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丢脸 (diū liǎn) — to lose face, to be humiliated, to be embarrassed (socially)

Definition

丢脸 (diū liǎn) is a verb meaning 'to lose face / be embarrassed' in social situations. Use it for the feeling of being humiliated; 丢人 is the more common colloquial variant, while 耻辱 is a formal noun for disgrace.

verb
to lose faceto be humiliatedto be embarrassed (socially)

Examples

  • ，丢脸。
    Tā zài dà jiā miàn qián chū le cuò, jué de hěn diū liǎn.
    He made a mistake in front of everyone and felt very embarrassed.
  • 。
    Tā cóng lái méi diū guò zhè me dà de liǎn.
    She has never lost face this badly before.
  • 丢脸，。
    Nǐ zhè yàng zuò tài diū liǎn le, bié rén huì xiào hua nǐ de.
    What you're doing is too shameful — others will laugh at you.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

丢diūlose
脸liǎnface

丢 means lose and 脸 means face, together meaning to lose face.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 丟; 丢 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 丟 is made of 一 (one) and 去 (to go; to remove); the simplified 丢 is a later shorthand, so its shapes are not the original parts.

Open 丢 →

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 臉; 脸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān臉liǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 臉 combines ⺼ (肉, body part) with 僉 as a sound part; the simplified 脸 is a later abbreviation.

Open 脸 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & Feelings5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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