嫌疑 (xián yí) — suspicion | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

嫌疑 is a formal noun for 'suspicion' of a crime or wrongdoing. Unlike 疑惑 and 疑虑, which are personal doubt or puzzlement in the mind, 嫌疑 points to a specific suspected person or act.

noun

suspicion

Examples

嫌疑。
Zhè ge àn jiàn hái yǒu bù shǎo xián yí méi yǒu chá qīng.
This case still has many suspicions that haven't been cleared up.
嫌疑，。
Lǎo bǎn duì tā yì zhí yǒu xián yí, dàn zhǎo bú dào zhèng jù.
The boss has always had suspicions about him, but can't find any evidence.
，嫌疑。
Wǒ men yīng gāi yǐ shì shí wèi jī chǔ, ér bú shì píng xián yí xià jié lùn.
We should base our conclusions on facts, not on suspicion.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

嫌xiánsuspect

Both 嫌 and 疑 point to doubt or suspicion.

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.

女兼嫌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

兼

兼jiān嫌xián

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

The left part 女 connects the character to women, while the right part 兼 gives its sound.

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

大大dàstanding human figure
夂夂zhǐtilted head with open mouth
丨丨gǔncane

疑 depicts a standing figure 大 with a tilted, open-mouthed head 夂 and a cane 丨, a confused person looking around for direction.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Crime & Police

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