嫉妒 (jí dù) — to be jealous of; to envy

Definition

嫉妒 (jídù) is a strong, often negative 'jealousy' — resenting what someone else has. 羡慕 is milder ('admire, envy' without the resentment); 忌妒 is a literary synonym for the same word.

verb
to be jealous ofto envy
Easily confused

Examples

  • 嫉妒。
    Tā cóng lái bù jí dù bié rén de yùn qì.
    She is never jealous of other people's luck.
  • 嫉妒？
    Nǐ wèi shén me yào jí dù tā de chéng gōng ne?
    Why are you jealous of his success?
  • 嫉妒。
    Bú yào jí dù bié rén yōng yǒu de dōng xī.
    Don't envy what others have.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

嫉jíenvy
妒dùenvy

嫉 envy and 妒 envy reinforce each other, expressing jealousy.

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
疾
疾jí嫉jí
Same sound today

The shape 嫉 combines 女 as the meaning part and 疾 as the sound part.

Open 嫉 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù妒
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 妒, the left part 女 shows the idea of a woman, while the right part 戶 supplies the sound.

Open 妒 →
Appears in
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