羞耻 (xiū chǐ) — ashamed, shameful | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

羞耻 describes a personal inner feeling of shame about one's own conduct, often after doing something wrong. It pairs more naturally with 感到 than 可耻, which judges the act itself as disgraceful.

adjective

ashamedshameful

Examples

羞耻。
Tā yīn wèi shuō huǎng ér gǎn dào fēi cháng xiū chǐ.
He felt very ashamed because he lied.
羞耻。
Zhè zhǒng xiū chǐ de xíng wéi ràng rén wú fǎ yuán liàng.
This kind of shameful behavior is unforgivable.
羞耻。
Tā wèi zì jǐ de shī bài gǎn dào xiū chǐ.
She felt ashamed of her failure.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

羞 (shame) and 耻 (shame) reinforce the feeling of disgrace.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

羊丑羞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丑

丑chǒu羞xiū

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

羞 is built from 羊, a sheep, as the meaning part, and 丑 for the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

耳止耻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

止

止zhǐ耻chǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

耻 is written with 耳 (ear) on the left and 止 on the right. Here 止 gives the sound, while 耳 is the meaning part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Emotions & Feelings 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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