徇私 (xùn sī) — to practice favoritism; to show favoritism for personal gain

Definition

A formal/literary verb meaning to bend rules or favor someone for personal gain. Usually appears in serious, written contexts (official misconduct, legal/HR discourse).

verb
to practice favoritismto show favoritism for personal gain

Examples

  • 徇私。
    Tā yīn wèi xùn sī ér bèi kāi chú le.
    He was fired for practicing favoritism.
  • 徇私。
    Lǐng dǎo cóng lái bú huì xùn sī.
    The leader never shows favoritism.
  • 徇。
    Tā wèi le péng you xùn guò yí cì sī.
    He once stretched the rules for a friend.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

徇xùnfollow
私sīprivate interest

徇 means follow and 私 private interest, together mean favoring one's own.

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
彳彳chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
旬
旬xún徇xùn
Same sound today

In 徇, the left part 彳 relates to the meaning, and the right part 旬 gives the sound.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

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