哄抬 (hōng tái) — to drive up (prices, usually by illegal or unethical means)

Definition

哄抬 means colluding to drive prices up illegally or unscrupulously. It is almost always used about prices (哄抬价格/物价), never general prices or values rising on their own.

verb
to drive up (prices, usually by illegal or unethical means)

Examples

  • 哄抬。
    Zhèng fǔ yán lì dǎ jī hōng tái wù jià de xíng wéi.
    The government severely cracks down on the act of driving up prices.
  • 哄抬，。
    Zhè xiē shāng jiā lián hé hōng tái jià gé, sǔn hài le xiāo fèi zhě lì yì.
    These merchants colluded to drive up prices, harming consumers' interests.
  • ，哄抬。
    Yì qíng qī jiān, rèn hé hōng tái wù jià de xíng wéi dōu huì shòu dào chǔ fá.
    During the pandemic, any act of driving up prices will be punished.

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.

哄hǒngclamor
抬táiraise

哄 suggests a clamor, and 抬 means to raise, so together they mean to drive prices up.

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
共
共gòng哄hōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

哄 is made from 口, the mouth part, and 共, the part that gives its sound.

Open 哄 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
台
台tái抬tái
Same sound today

In 抬, the 扌 part relates to the hand, and 台 gives the sound.

Open 抬 →

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