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肇事者 (zhào shì zhě) — person who causes an accident or disturbance; culprit

Definition

Formal term for the person who caused an accident (especially traffic) — a written/journalistic word, not used in casual speech. Translates as 'culprit' specifically in accident-related contexts, broader than the everyday 麻烦制造者 ('troublemaker').

noun
person who causes an accident or disturbanceculprit
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 肇事者。
    Zuó tiān nà chǎng chē huò de zhào shì zhě yǐ jīng bèi jǐng fāng jū liú le.
    The person who caused that car accident yesterday has been detained by the police.
  • 肇事者。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài quán lì zhuī bǔ zhè cì shì jiàn de zhào shì zhě.
    The police are doing their best to pursue the person responsible for this incident.
  • 肇事者，。
    Zuò wéi zhào shì zhě, tā bì xū chéng dān quán bù zé rèn.
    As the party at fault, he must bear full responsibility.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

肇事cause trouble
肇zhàocause事shìincident
动宾Verb + object
者zhěperson

肇 means to cause and 事 means an incident; 者 denotes the person who does it.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūhand action
Sound part声符shēngfú
肁
肁zhào肇zhào
Same sound today

肇 pairs 肁, which gives the sound, with 攵, a hand-action component.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 者 originally drew a sugarcane with full stems, small points around it, and an open smiling mouth at the bottom.

Open 者 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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