成心 (chéng xīn) — intentionally; deliberately; on purpose | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

成心 means 'on purpose,' usually pointing to bad intent — slightly stronger than 故意. Common in spoken accusations like '你成心气我呀?'

adverb

intentionallydeliberatelyon purpose

Examples

成心，。
Tā bú shì chéng xīn shuō nà jù huà de, zhǐ shì bù xiǎo xīn.
She didn't say that intentionally; it was just careless.
成心，。
Tā chéng xīn bǎ shǒu jī liú zài jiā lǐ, bù jiē diàn huà.
He deliberately left his phone at home to avoid answering calls.
成心，？
Nǐ chéng xīn zhè me zuò, xiǎng guò hòu guǒ ma?
Did you think about the consequences of doing this deliberately?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

心xīnintention

'成' means form and '心' means heart or intention, so it conveys having formed a purpose.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng成chéng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Will & Intention

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