顽抗 (wán kàng) — stubbornly resist

Definition

顽抗 (wánkàng) means to resist stubbornly against pressure to yield, surrender, or accept — typically a losing or unjust position. It is stronger and more condemnatory than 抵抗, which is a neutral 'to resist'.

verb
stubbornly resist

Examples

  • 顽抗，。
    Dí rén hái zài wán kàng, dàn yǐ jīng jiān chí bù liǎo duō jiǔ le.
    The enemy is still stubbornly resisting, but they can't hold out much longer.
  • ，顽抗。
    Jǐng fāng quàn tā tóu xiáng, tā què jì xù wán kàng.
    The police urged him to surrender, but he continued to resist stubbornly.
  • ，顽抗，。
    Miàn duì zhèng jù, tā bú zài wán kàng, chéng rèn le zuì xíng.
    Faced with the evidence, he no longer resisted stubbornly and confessed to the crime.

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.

顽wánstubborn
抗kàngresist

顽 describes stubbornness and 抗 means resist, so the term means to resist stubbornly.

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 頑; 顽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán頑wán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 頑, 元 gave the sound and 頁 showed 'head'; the sense was 'a stubborn head'.

Open 顽 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
亢
亢kàng抗kàng
Same sound today

抗 is made from 扌, a written form of 手 (hand), and 亢, which gives the sound.

Open 抗 →

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