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傀儡 (kuǐ lěi) — puppet (literal, as in a puppet show); a person or entity under the control of someone else; puppet (figurative)

Definition

Literally a string-controlled puppet from puppet theater; figuratively, a person or regime with no real power, just acting on someone else's orders. A literary word, not for everyday use.

noun
puppet (literal, as in a puppet show)a person or entity under the control of someone elsepuppet (figurative)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 傀儡。
    Cāo zòng zhě yòng xiàn kòng zhì kuǐ lěi de měi yí gè dòng zuò.
    The operator controls every movement of the puppet with strings.
  • 傀儡。
    Nà ge zhèng fǔ zhǐ shì wài guó shì lì de kuǐ lěi.
    That government is just a puppet of foreign forces.
  • 傀儡，。
    Tā bú yuàn zuò rèn hé rén de kuǐ lěi, jiān chí dú lì jué cè.
    He refuses to be anyone's puppet and insists on making independent decisions.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

傀kuǐ
儡lěi

傀 and 儡 carry no meaning on their own; together they name a puppet.

Sound-only characters

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rénhuman
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬼
鬼guǐ傀⁰guī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 傀, the left part 亻 shows human, and the right part 鬼 gives the sound.

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
畾
畾léi儡
Same sound today

儡 combines 人 (man) with 畾, which supplies the sound.

Appears in
Abstract ConceptsCrafts & Handiwork

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