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愚蠢 (yú chǔn) — stupid; silly; foolish

Definition

Strong, written word for 'stupid / foolish', often judging a person's ideas or decisions. Sharper and more formal than the everyday 傻; heavier than 笨, which suggests slow-wittedness rather than bad judgment.

adjective
stupidsillyfoolish

Examples

  • 愚蠢？
    Zhè me yú chǔn de wèn tí nǐ yě wèn dé chū lái?
    How can you ask such a stupid question?
  • 愚蠢，。
    Tā zuò le yí gè yú chǔn de jué dìng, jié guǒ sǔn shī le hěn duō qián.
    He made a stupid decision, and as a result he lost a lot of money.
  • 愚蠢，。
    Bié zài shuō yú chǔn de huà le, dà jiā dōu bù xǐ huan nǐ zhè yàng.
    Stop saying stupid things — everyone dislikes you when you act like this.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

愚yúfoolish
蠢chǔnfoolish

愚 and 蠢 both mean “foolish,” so together they intensify the idea of being stupid.

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
禺
禺yú愚yú
Same sound today

愚 pairs 心 (heart) with 禺 for the sound; the heart part relates to the sense of foolishness.

Open 愚 →

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
䖵䖵䖵insects
Sound part声符shēngfú
春
春chūn蠢chǔn
Same sound today

蠢 pairs 䖵 (insects) with 春 as a sound part.

Open 蠢 →
Appears in
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