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刁难 (diāo nàn) — to deliberately make things difficult for someone; to be hard on someone

Definition

Both mean 'to make things difficult for someone,' but 刁难 always implies deliberate, malicious intent (picking on, bullying). 为难 is broader and can be unintentional or stem from the situation itself.

verb
to deliberately make things difficult for someoneto be hard on someone

Examples

  • 刁难，。
    Lǎo bǎn zǒng shì diāo nàn yuán gōng, dà jiā dōu bù xǐ huan tā.
    The boss always makes things difficult for employees; everyone dislikes him.
  • 刁难，。
    Tā gù yì diāo nàn wǒ, ràng wǒ zài huì yì shàng nán kān.
    She deliberately made things difficult for me, making me embarrassed at the meeting.
  • ，刁难，。
    Zài tán pàn zhōng, duì fāng bú duàn diāo nàn wǒ men, shì tú huò dé gèng duō lì yì.
    During the negotiations, the other side kept making things difficult for us, trying to gain more benefits.

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.

刁diāocraftily
难nánmake difficult

“刁” (craftily) and “难” (make difficult) describe deliberately causing trouble for someone.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 刁 →

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Conflict & Agreement

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