大敌 (dà dí) — great enemy, formidable foe

Definition

Literary, emphatic 'great enemy / formidable foe' — stronger than 敌人, often used metaphorically (e.g. laziness as the great enemy of progress).

noun

great enemyformidable foe

Measure word · 个

Easily confused

大敌。
Zhè chǎng bǐ sài yù dào le qiáng dà dà dí.
This match encountered a formidable opponent.
，大敌。
Wǒ men yào tuán jié qǐ lái, gòng tóng miàn duì dà dí.
We must unite and face the formidable enemy together.
。
Lǎn duò shì jìn bù de dà dà dí.
Laziness is a major enemy of progress.

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.

大 intensifies 敌, enemy, giving a formidable foe.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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 敵; 敌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pūto tap; to hit

Sound part声符shēngfú

啻

啻chì敵dí

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敵 pairs 啻 as a sound part with 攴, a part for tapping or hitting.