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恶作剧 (è zuò jù) — (noun) practical joke, prank; (verb) to play a prank on someone

Definition

A practical joke or prank — both the act itself (noun) and the action of playing one (verb). Related to 戏's sense of "trick/scheme," but 恶作剧 is a fixed noun/verb focused specifically on playful teasing, not broader schemes.

noun
practical jokeprank
verb
to play a prank on someone

Examples

  • 恶作剧。
    Tā zuó tiān yòu è zuò jù wǒ le.
    He played a prank on me again yesterday.
  • 恶作剧，。
    Zhè zhǐ shì yí gè è zuò jù, bié dàng zhēn.
    It's just a prank, don't take it seriously.
  • 恶作剧。
    Zhè ge è zuò jù tài guò fèn le.
    This prank went too far.

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.

恶èmalicious
作剧make a dramatic scene
作zuòmake剧jùdrama
动宾Verb + object

恶 means malicious, and 作剧 means to make a dramatic scene; together they give the sense of a malicious scene played on someone, a prank.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 惡; 恶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
亞
亞yā惡è
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 惡 pairs 心 (heart) as the meaning part with 亞 (yā) as the sound part; the simplified 恶 is a later shorthand.

Open 恶 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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 劇; 剧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
豦
豦jù劇jù
Same sound today

The traditional form 劇 pairs 豦, which gives the sound, with 刀, a knife; the simplified 剧 is a later shorthand.

Open 剧 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Games & Puzzles5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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