贼心 (zéi xīn) — wicked heart; evil designs

Definition

贼心 names the malicious intent itself — the evil designs behind a scheme — not a generally evil nature. Almost always used with verbs like 起 or 怀 (e.g., 起贼心).

noun
wicked heartevil designs

Examples

  • 贼心，。
    Tā zǎo jiù qǐ le zéi xīn, xiǎng tōu gōng sī de jī mì.
    He had long harbored wicked intentions to steal the company's secrets.
  • 贼心。
    Nà ge piàn zi shǐ zhōng bù kěn fàng qì tā de zéi xīn.
    That swindler refused to give up his evil designs.
  • 贼心。
    Tā de zéi xīn zhōng yú bèi dà jiā shí pò le.
    His wicked heart was finally seen through by everyone.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

贼zéithief
心xīnheart

A wicked, thieving heart conveys evil designs.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賊; 贼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēweapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé賊zéi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 賊 combines 戈, a weapon, with 則 to give the pronunciation; the simplified 贼 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 贼 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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