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影射 (yǐng shè) — to insinuate, to make veiled accusations or allusions; to counterfeit (trademarks, branded goods, etc.)

Definition

A verb for hinting at someone or something indirectly — through veiled allusions or insinuations, not outright statements. Distinct from 暗示 (ànshì), which is a subtler 'hint' without the accusatory edge.

verb
to insinuate, to make veiled accusations or allusionsto counterfeit (trademarks, branded goods, etc.)

Examples

  • ，影射。
    Tā suī rán méi yǒu míng shuō, dàn huà lǐ huà wài dōu zài yǐng shè nà jiàn shì.
    Although he didn't say it directly, his words were all insinuating that matter.
  • 影射。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī yǐng shè le guó jì zhī míng pǐn pái de shāng biāo.
    This company counterfeited the trademark of an internationally known brand.
  • 影射。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō yǐng shè le dāng shí shè huì de zhǒng zhǒng bù gōng.
    This novel insinuated all sorts of social injustices of that time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

影yǐngshadow
射shèshoot

影 suggests a shadowy indirect image, 射 means to shoot or hit; together describe an indirect attack.

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →

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

In 射, the left part comes from 弓 (bow) and 矢 (arrow), and the right part comes from a hand drawing the bowstring.

Open 射 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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