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半信半疑 (bàn xìn bàn yí) — skeptical, not fully convinced, half believing and half doubting

Definition

Describes your own mindset: you're willing to believe only part of what you hear and doubt the rest. 可疑 is an adjective for the thing itself looking suspicious, not the believer's attitude.

phrase
skepticalnot fully convincedhalf believing and half doubting

Examples

  • ，半信半疑。
    Tīng le tā de jiě shì, wǒ hái shì bàn xìn bàn yí.
    After hearing his explanation, I'm still skeptical.
  • 半信半疑。
    Tā bàn xìn bàn yí dì kàn zhe nà piān bào dào.
    She looked at the report with a dubious expression.
  • 半信半疑，。
    Wǒ duì zhè ge xiāo xi bàn xìn bàn yí, bù gǎn qīng yì xiāng xìn.
    I'm skeptical about this news and dare not believe it easily.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

半信
半bànhalf信xìnbelieve
偏正Modifier + head
半疑
半bànhalf疑yídoubt
偏正Modifier + head

半信 means half believing and 半疑 means half doubting; the parallel parts express uncertainty.

Characters in this word

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

The shape pairs 八 (to divide) with 牛 (cow), showing a cow cut into two halves.

Open 半 →

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
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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

The shape pairs 八 (to divide) with 牛 (cow), showing a cow cut into two halves.

Open 半 →

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

  • 大大dàstanding human figure
  • 夂夂zhǐtilted head with open mouth
  • 丨丨gǔncane

疑 depicts a standing figure 大 with a tilted, open-mouthed head 夂 and a cane 丨, a confused person looking around for direction.

Open 疑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.