投机商 (tóu jī shāng) — speculator; profiteer

Definition

noun

speculatorprofiteer

Measure word · 个

投机商。
Zhè xiē tóu jī shāng tōng guò mǎi mai gǔ piào zhuàn le hěn duō qián.
These speculators made a lot of money by buying and selling stocks.
投机商。
Zhèng fǔ cǎi qǔ cuò shī yán lì dǎ jī tóu jī shāng.
The government took measures to crack down on profiteers.
投机商，。
tóu jī shāng Zài shāng pǐn shì chǎng shàng hōng tái wù jià, yǐng xiǎng le zhèng cháng zhì xù.
Speculators jack up prices in the commodity market, disrupting normal order.

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.

投机speculate

投tóutake advantage机jīopportunity

动宾Verb + object

投机, taking advantage of opportunity, describes a 商, merchant, who profits by speculation.

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.

扌殳投

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

殳

殳shū投tóu

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木几机

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree; wood

Sound part声符shēngfú

几

Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.