装糊涂 (zhuāng hū) — to play dumb, to feign ignorance

Definition

Verb phrase meaning to deliberately act confused in order to dodge responsibility or avoid an awkward question. Often paired with 装 (pretend) and shows the speaker believes the other person really knows the answer.

verb

to play dumbto feign ignorance

Examples

装糊涂，。
Bié gēn wǒ zhuāng hū le, nǐ míng míng zhī dào dá àn.
Don't play dumb with me — you clearly know the answer.
，。
Tā zhuāng le yí cì hú tu, bǎ zé rèn tuī gěi le bié rén.
He played dumb once and shifted the blame onto someone else.
，装糊涂。
Lǎo bǎn wèn shuí fàn le cuò, dà jiā dōu kāi shǐ zhuāng hū.
When the boss asked who made the mistake, everyone started playing dumb.

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