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唬人 (hǔ rén) — to bluff or intimidate someone with exaggerations or false bravado; to deceive or cheat someone by playing a hoax

Definition

唬 (hǔ) is a colloquial verb meaning 'to bluff' or 'to pull a hoax on' someone with fake bravado or lies. It focuses on scaring or tricking a person (the 人 object is fixed); it is informal and not used in formal writing.

verb
to bluff or intimidate someone with exaggerations or false bravadoto deceive or cheat someone by playing a hoax

Examples

  • 唬人，。
    Nǐ bú yào hǔ rén le, wǒ zǎo jiù zhī dào zhēn xiàng.
    Don't bluff anymore — I've known the truth all along.
  • ，。
    Tā hǔ le wǒ yí cì, wǒ zài yě bù xiāng xìn tā le.
    He once fooled me, and I no longer believe him.
  • 唬人，。
    Zhè zhǒng huà jiù shì yòng lái hǔ rén de, bié dàng zhēn.
    That kind of talk is just meant to bluff you — don't take it seriously.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

唬hǔscare
人rénperson

唬 'scare' and 人 'person' together mean to intimidate someone.

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kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
虎
虎hǔ唬hǔ
Same sound today

唬 puts 口 (mouth) beside 虎 (tiger), with 口 carrying the sense and 虎 giving the sound.

Open 唬 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
Communication & SpeechConflict & Agreement

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