做作 (zuò zuo) — affected, artificial, pretentious

Definition

Means 'affected / pretentious' — someone's behavior (acting, smiling, style) feels fake, exaggerated, or put-on rather than natural. Collocates with 表演, 笑容, 风格; more literary than 装. Antonym: 真实. Definitions list captures all senses.

adjective
affectedartificialpretentious

Examples

  • 做作，。
    Tā de biǎo yǎn hěn zuò zuo, yì diǎn yě bú zì rán.
    Her performance was very affected, not natural at all.
  • 做作，。
    Wǒ jué de tā de xiào róng yǒu diǎn zuò zuo, xiàng shì zhuāng chū lái de.
    I think his smile is a bit artificial, as if it's put on.
  • 做作。
    Zhè zhǒng zuò zuo de fēng gé wǒ bú tài xǐ huan.
    I don't really like this pretentious style.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

做zuòact
作zuòact

做作 describes artificial behavior, from 做 and 作 both meaning act or pretend.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 做 →

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.

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Appears in
Personality & Traits

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