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嚣张 (xiāo zhāng) — arrogant and overbearing; brazenly aggressive

Definition

An adjective for someone whose arrogant behavior is openly aggressive and offensive to others. Stronger and more brazen than 傲慢 ('simply haughty'), and unlike 放肆 (a one-off impolite act), 嚣张 describes a person's ongoing attitude.

adjective
arrogant and overbearingbrazenly aggressive

Examples

  • 嚣张，。
    Nà ge rén shuō huà hěn xiāo zhāng, ràng rén hěn bù shū fu.
    That person speaks very arrogantly, which makes people very uncomfortable.
  • 嚣张，。
    Tā yǐ wéi zì jǐ yíng le jiù xiāo zhāng qǐ lái, jié guǒ hěn kuài shū le.
    He thought he had won and got all cocky, but ended up losing quickly.
  • 嚣张。
    Zài gōng gòng chǎng hé xiāo zhāng huì ràng rén jué de nǐ méi yǒu jiào yǎng.
    Being arrogant in public will make people think you have no manners.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

嚣áoclamor
张zhāngspread

嚣 suggests clamor and 张 suggests spreading; together they describe arrogant, rampant behavior.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 囂; 嚣 is its simplified writing.

  • 㗊㗊㗊four mouths; to clamor
  • 頁頁yèhead

The traditional form 囂 combines 㗊 (four mouths) with 頁 (head) to show a clamoring crowd; the simplified 嚣 is a later abbreviation.

Open 嚣 →

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 張; 张 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
弓弓gōngbow
Sound part声符shēngfú
長
長cháng張zhāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 張 combines 弓, a bow, with 長, which points to the sound; the simplified 张 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 张 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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