装傻 (zhuāng shǎ) — to pretend to be stupid or naive, to play dumb

Definition

装 (zhuāng) here means 'pretend' and 傻 means 'stupid/naive' — together 'to play dumb' to dodge a question, avoid blame, or get out of a situation. Often accusatory, as in 你装什么傻? ('What are you playing dumb for?').

verb

to pretend to be stupid or naiveto play dumb

Examples

装傻，。
Bié zhuāng shǎ le, nǐ míng míng zhī dào dá àn.
Don't play dumb — you clearly know the answer.
，。
Tā zhuāng le yì huí shǎ, cái duǒ guò zhuī wèn.
He pretended to be stupid once to dodge the questioning.
？。
Nǐ zhuāng shén me shǎ? zhè shì r jiù shì nǐ gān de.
What are you playing dumb for? You're the one who did this.