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醉鬼 (zuì guǐ) — drunkard

Definition

A pejorative, colloquial label for a habitual drunk. The 鬼 suffix adds a dismissive, insulting tone, so it's stronger and ruder than a neutral term like 酒鬼.

noun
drunkard
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 醉鬼。
    Nà ge zuì guǐ měi tiān hē dé zuì xūn xūn de.
    That drunkard drinks until he's plastered every day.
  • 醉鬼，。
    Bié lǐ nà ge zuì guǐ, tā hē duō le jiù hú shuō bā dào.
    Don't mind that drunkard — when he drinks too much he talks nonsense.
  • 醉鬼，。
    Tā yǐ qián shì gè zuì guǐ, xiàn zài jiè jiǔ le.
    He used to be a drunkard, but now he's quit drinking.

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.

醉zuìdrunk
鬼guǐperson

醉 (drunk) and 鬼 (person) combine to label a habitual drunkard.

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
酉酉yǒualcoholic drink
Sound part声符shēngfú
卒
卒zú醉zuì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

醉 combines 酉, a sign for alcoholic drink, with 卒, which supplies the sound.

Open 醉 →

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →
Appears in
Alcohol & TobaccoPeople (General)

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