失衡 (shī héng) — to become unbalanced, to lose balance

Definition

失衡 (shīhéng) is a formal verb meaning 'to lose balance' or 'to become unbalanced' — used for both physical states (a body, a person) and abstract systems (supply and demand, an economy). It is more formal and written than the everyday 失去平衡.

verb

to become unbalancedto lose balance

Examples

失衡，。
Tā zǒu lù shí shēn tǐ shī héng, chà diǎn shuāi dǎo.
When he walked, his body became unbalanced and he almost fell.
失衡，。
Shì chǎng gōng xū shī héng, dǎo zhì wù jià shàng zhǎng.
Market supply and demand became unbalanced, causing prices to rise.
，。
Jīng jì yí dù shī le héng, dàn hòu lái huī fù le.
The economy was once out of balance, but later recovered.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

失shīlose

衡héngbalance

失 conveys losing, and 衡 conveys balance, so the word means to become unbalanced.

Characters in this word

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

手手shǒu
乙乙yǐ

The shape is explained as a fallen person's footprint surrounded by drops of blood; another reading pairs 手 (hand) and 乙 to show something falling from a hand.

Open 失 →

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

角角jiǎohorn

大大dàbig

Sound part声符shēngfú

行

行xíng衡héng

Same sound today

衡 uses 行 to hint at its sound, and includes 角 (horn) and 大 (big) as meaning parts.

Open 衡 →

Appears in