心狠手辣 (xīn hěn shǒu là) — (idiom) ruthless and cold-blooded, cruel and merciless

Definition

Idiom for someone who is heartlessly cruel — both 心 (heart) and 手 (methods) are ruthless. Always describes a person, never an action.

idiom
ruthless and cold-bloodedcruel and merciless

Examples

  • 心狠手辣,。
    Tā wèi rén xīn hěn shǒu là, wèi le lì yì bù zé shǒu duàn.
    He is ruthless and stops at nothing for profit.
  • 心狠手辣,。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō lǐ de fǎn pài xīn hěn shǒu là, zuì hòu dé dào le bào yìng.
    The villain in this novel is merciless and eventually gets his comeuppance.
  • ,心狠手辣?。
    Zài jìng zhēng jī liè de háng yè lǐ, zhǐ yǒu xīn hěn shǒu là de rén cái néng chéng gōng? qí shí bù rán.
    In a highly competitive industry, only ruthless people can succeed? Actually, that's not true.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

心狠cruel-hearted
心xīnheart狠hěncruel
主谓Subject + predicate
手辣harsh-handed
手shǒuhand辣làharsh
主谓Subject + predicate

心狠 means the heart is cruel, and 手辣 means the hand is harsh; together they describe a ruthless person.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
犭Written in full as犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn狠hěn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 狠, the left part 犭 is a shortened form of 犬; the right part 艮 gives the sound.

Open 狠 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
束
剌là辣là
Same sound today

辣 is built from 辛, which carries the meaning, and 束, written in full as 剌, which carries the sound.

Open 辣 →

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