慢吞吞 (màn tūn tūn) — irritatingly slow; sluggish

Definition

Reduplicated adverb/adjective meaning 'irritatingly slow' — emphasizes the speaker's annoyance at the pace. Always used before a verb (慢吞吞地…) or with 的 after; never stands alone.

bound form

irritatingly slowsluggish

Examples

慢吞吞，。
Tā zǒu lù zǒng shì màn tūn tūn de, zhēn ràng rén zháo jí.
He always walks irritatingly slow; it really makes people anxious.
慢吞吞，。
Bié màn tūn tūn dì chī fàn, wǒ men kuài yào chí dào le.
Don't eat so sluggishly; we are almost late.
慢吞吞，。
Tā zài guì tái qián màn tūn tūn dì fān zhǎo qián bāo, hòu miàn pái duì de rén dōu hěn bú nài fán.
She was rummaging through her wallet at the counter with irritating slowness; the people waiting in line behind were very impatient.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

慢mànslow

吞吞

吞tūn吞tūn

重叠Reduplication

慢 (slow) plus 吞吞 makes it sound irritatingly sluggish.

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.

忄曼慢

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

曼

曼màn慢màn

Same sound today

慢 pairs 忄 (heart) with 曼 (màn). The heart part points to a manner or sluggish behavior, while 曼’s meaning “long, extended” adds the sense of taking a long time.

Open 慢 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 吞 →