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铺张 (pū zhāng) — extravagant, wasteful, ostentatious (in spending or behavior)

Definition

铺张 (pūzhāng) means spending or behaving in an ostentatiously wasteful way, with a negative judgment. Almost always appears with 浪费 in the set phrase 铺张浪费.

adjective
extravagantwastefulostentatious (in spending or behavior)

Examples

  • 铺张，。
    Zhè ge hūn lǐ bàn dé tài pū zhāng le, huā le hěn duō qián.
    This wedding was too extravagant — it cost a lot of money.
  • ，。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi tí chàng jié yuē, fǎn duì pū zhāng làng fèi.
    We should promote thrift and oppose extravagance and waste.
  • 铺张，。
    Tā xǐ huan pū zhāng, měi cì qǐng kè dōu diǎn hěn duō cài.
    He likes to be extravagant — every time he treats guests he orders a lot of dishes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

铺pùspread
张zhāngstretch

铺 means spread out, and 张 means stretch; together they suggest overextended display.

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 鋪; 铺 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīngold; metal
Sound part声符shēngfú
甫
甫fǔ鋪pū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鋪 pairs 金 (gold; metal) with 甫 as a sound part; the simplified 铺 is a shorthand.

Open 铺 →

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 張; 张 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
弓弓gōngbow
Sound part声符shēngfú
長
長cháng張zhāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 張 combines 弓, a bow, with 長, which points to the sound; the simplified 张 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 张 →
Appears in
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