二心 (èr xīn) — disloyalty; half-heartedness; duplicity

Definition

Literary/formal noun for being two-minded: disloyal, unfaithful, or doing something half-heartedly. Almost always appears in phrases like 怀有二心 or 有二心, not used in everyday casual speech.

noun
disloyaltyhalf-heartednessduplicity

Examples

  • 二心，。
    Tā duì gōng sī huái yǒu èr xīn, zuì zhōng bèi pàn le lǎo bǎn.
    He harbored disloyalty toward the company and eventually betrayed his boss.
  • 二心，。
    Zuò shì bù néng yǒu èr xīn, fǒu zé hěn nán chéng gōng.
    You can't do things with half-heartedness, otherwise it's hard to succeed.
  • 二心。
    Péng you zhī jiān zuì jì huì de jiù shì èr xīn.
    What is most taboo between friends is duplicity.

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.

二èrtwo
心xīnheart/mind

二 “two” and 心 “heart/mind” combine as having two minds, hence disloyalty.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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