TongTong
Sign in

害羞 (hài xiū) — shy; bashful; embarrassed

Definition

A shy or bashful person — a personality trait (e.g., quiet around strangers). Lighter than 羞愧 (ashamed of a fault) and less situational than 尴尬 (awkward).

adjective
shybashfulembarrassed

Examples

  • 害羞。
    Tā jiàn dào mò shēng rén hěn hài xiū.
    She is very shy when meeting strangers.
  • 害羞，。
    Bié hài xiū, dà shēng shuō chū lái ba.
    Don't be shy, just say it out loud.
  • 。
    Tā yīn wéi hài xiū liǎn hóng le qǐ lái.
    His face turned red because he was shy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

害hàito have or suffer from
羞xiūshame; bashfulness

害羞 combines 害, 'to have or suffer from', with 羞, 'shame or bashfulness', to mean being shy or embarrassed.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
丯
丯jiè害hài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

害 was borrowed purely for its sound. Its old picture, possibly a house rafter, is unrelated to harm.

Open 害 →

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
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
丑
丑chǒu羞xiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

羞 is built from 羊, a sheep, as the meaning part, and 丑 for the sound.

Open 羞 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Emotions & FeelingsPersonality & Traits5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.