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折腾 (zhē teng) — to put (someone) through unnecessary trouble or torment; to mess around (inefficiently), to waste or squander (time, money)

Definition

折腾 covers two connected ideas: to harass or torment someone (e.g. overwork, badger), and to fiddle around wastefully, squandering time/money. Unlike 耗, the focus is on the suffering or pointless action, not the resource itself.

verb
to put (someone) through unnecessary trouble or tormentto mess around (inefficiently)to waste or squander (time, money)

Examples

  • 折腾，。
    Tā měi tiān zhē teng hái zi xué gāng qín, hái zi dōu kuài shòu bù liǎo le.
    He torments his child into learning piano every day; the child can hardly bear it.
  • 折腾，。
    Bié zài zhē teng zhè xiē wén jiàn le, wǒ men yào de shì jié guǒ.
    Stop messing around with these papers; we need results.
  • 折腾。
    Tā bǎ jiā lǐ de qián dōu zhē teng guāng le.
    He squandered all the family's money.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

折zhétwist
腾téngbounce

折 suggests twisting and 腾 suggests bouncing, so the sense is restless tossing or repeated fussing.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 屮𣏄𣏄a tree {{zh-m|*木}} cut in half
  • 斤斤jīnaxe

The shape originally showed an axe (斤) cutting a tree in half; in 折 the left part is now written as a hand.

Open 折 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 騰; 腾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
朕
朕zhèn騰téng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 騰 pairs 馬 (horse) with 朕 as a sound part; it described a horse's gallop or prance. The simplified 腾 is a later shorthand.

Open 腾 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Conflict & Agreement

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