居心叵测 (jū xīn pǒ cè) — having unfathomable intentions; with hidden motives (often malicious)

Definition

A formal idiom meaning 'with hidden (usually malicious) motives' — stronger than 别有用心, which can be neutral or political, while this one always implies evil intent.

idiom
having unfathomable intentionswith hidden motives (often malicious)

Examples

  • 居心叵测，。
    Zhè ge rén jū xīn pǒ cè, nǐ yào xiǎo xīn.
    This person has hidden intentions — you should be careful.
  • 居心叵测。
    Tā jū xīn pǒ cè de xíng wéi ràng rén nán yǐ xìn rèn.
    His behavior, with its hidden motives, makes it hard to trust him.
  • ，居心叵测，。
    Zài shāng yè tán pàn zhōng, duì shǒu jū xīn pǒ cè, wǒ men bì xū dī fáng.
    In business negotiations, the opponent's intentions are unfathomable — we must be on guard.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

居心harbor a mind
居jūharbor心xīnmind
动宾Verb + object
叵测cannot measure
叵pǒcannot测cèmeasure
偏正Modifier + head

“居心” means harbor a mind and “叵测” means cannot measure, so intentions are hard to fathom.

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 叵 →

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 測; 测 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé測cè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 測 combines 氵 (water) with 則 for the sound; it is explained as measuring the depth of water. The simplified 测 is a later shorthand.

Open 测 →

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