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作祟 (zuò suì) — to haunt; to make mischief; to cause trouble

Definition

作祟 (zuō suì) literally means ghosts or spirits causing trouble, but is used figuratively for hidden forces (jealousy, fear, bias) secretly sabotaging a situation. Often appears in the pattern "…在作祟" to blame an unnamed cause for problems.

verb
to hauntto make mischiefto cause trouble

Examples

  • 作祟。
    Nà ge lǎo fáng zi lǐ yǒu guǐ hún zuò suì.
    There are ghosts haunting that old house.
  • 作祟。
    Zhè zhǒng jí dù xīn yì zhí zài àn zhōng zuò suì.
    This kind of jealousy has been secretly causing trouble.
  • 祟？
    Tā xīn lǐ zài zuò shén me suì?
    What mischief is he up to in his mind?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

作zuòmake; do
祟suìevil spirit; mischief

作 (make/do) with 祟 (evil spirit/mischief) gives 'make mischief' or 'haunt'.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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

The older form of 祟 used 木 (wood) and 示 (altar), showing wood burned to consult the gods. In the modern character, that wood part is written as 出.

Appears in
Mythology & Folklore

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