情夫 (qíng fū) — lover (of a married woman); paramour

Definition

Refers to the lover of a married woman — always the man's role, not a general term for romantic partners. Strongly negative connotation, almost only used in scandals or gossip.

noun
lover (of a married woman)paramour
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 情夫，。
    Tā zhàng fu fā xiàn tā yǒu yí gè qíng fū hòu, jué dìng lí hūn.
    After her husband found out she had a lover, he decided to divorce.
  • 情夫。
    Nà ge qíng fū jīng cháng chèn tā zhàng fu bú zài shí lái jiā lǐ.
    That paramour often came over when her husband wasn't home.
  • 情夫。
    Tā yīn wèi yǔ qíng fū de guān xì bèi lín jū yì lùn.
    She was gossiped about by neighbors because of her relationship with her lover.

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.

情qínglove
夫fūman

情 love and 夫 man combine to mean a man in a love affair.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng情qíng
Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

Open 情 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

Open 夫 →

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