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霸道 (bà dào) — overbearing, domineering, tyrannical; strong, potent (of liquor, medicine)

Definition

Describes a person who imposes their will aggressively on others — more about dominating behavior than 狂's wild intensity. 盛气凌人 captures a similar attitude but is a formal idiom, not a plain adjective.

adjective
overbearingdomineeringtyrannicalstrongpotent (of liquor, medicine)

Examples

  • 裡霸道，。
    Tā zài gōng sī lǐ hěn bà dào, dà jiā dōu pà tā.
    He's very domineering at the company; everyone is afraid of him.
  • 霸道，。
    Zhè jiǔ hěn bà dào, hē yì diǎn jiù zuì le.
    This liquor is very strong; one sip and I'm drunk.
  • 霸道，。
    Bié zhè me bà dào, tīng tīng bié rén de yì jiàn ba.
    Don't be so overbearing — try listening to other people's opinions.

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.

霸bàhegemon
道dàoway

霸 means hegemon or tyrant and 道 means way, so the word describes a domineering way or strong quality.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The original form paired 革 with 月 to show changes in moonlight.

Open 霸 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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