推诿 (tuī wěi) — to shirk responsibility by blaming others; to pass the buck

Definition

A formal written verb meaning to shirk responsibility by pushing blame onto others — used in official or critical contexts, not everyday speech. Negated as 不互相推诿, not *没推诿.

verb
to shirk responsibility by blaming othersto pass the buck

Examples

  • 推诿，。
    Chū le wèn tí bú yào hù xiāng tuī wěi, yào yì qǐ xiǎng bàn fǎ jiě jué.
    Don't pass the buck to each other when problems arise; work together to find a solution.
  • 推诿，。
    Tā zǒng shì zài guān jiàn shí kè tuī wěi, bǎ zé rèn tuī gěi tóng shì.
    He always shirks responsibility at critical moments and shifts the blame onto colleagues.
  • 推诿。
    Zhèng fǔ guān yuán yīn hù xiāng tuī wěi ér shòu dào pī píng.
    Government officials were criticized for passing the buck among themselves.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

推tuīpush
诿wěiblame others

推 'push' and 诿 'blame others' combine to mean shifting responsibility onto someone else.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
隹
隹zhuī推tuī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 扌 is a hand, and the right side 隹 gives the sound; the character shows pushing with the hand.

Open 推 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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