惹不起 (rě bù qǐ) — cannot afford to offend; too tough to handle

Definition

A colloquial verb phrase (from 惹 'provoke' + negative result complement) meaning someone is too dangerous, powerful, or fierce to provoke. It describes a person, animal, or force you wisely avoid crossing.

verb
cannot afford to offendtoo tough to handle

Examples

  • ，惹不起。
    Nà ge rén shì hēi bāng lǎo dà, wǒ men rě bù qǐ.
    That person is a gang leader; we can't afford to offend him.
  • 惹不起，。
    Nà zhī lǎo hǔ rě bù qǐ, lián liè rén dōu pà tā.
    That tiger is too tough to handle; even hunters are afraid of it.
  • ，惹不起。
    Tā yǐ wéi xīn tóng shì hǎo qī fu, méi xiǎng dào duì fāng rě bù qǐ.
    He thought the new colleague was easy to bully, but didn't expect the other person was too tough to handle.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

惹rěprovoke
不起cannot handle
不bùnot起qǐup
偏正Modifier + head

惹 means to provoke, and 不起 adds that one cannot bear or handle it.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 惹 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

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