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搞鬼 (gǎo guǐ) — to make mischief; to play tricks

Definition

搞鬼 means 'to make mischief / play tricks' — a fixed phrase where 鬼 is a noun, not the general verb 搞 ('to do/handle'). Used when someone is sneaking around being sneaky, not just doing something.

verb
to make mischiefto play tricks

Examples

  • 搞鬼，！
    Bié gǎo guǐ le, kuài shuō shí huà!
    Stop playing tricks, tell the truth!
  • 搞鬼，？
    Nǐ yòu zài gǎo guǐ, duì bú duì?
    You're up to tricks again, aren't you?
  • ？
    Nǐ gǎo shén me guǐ?
    What trick are you up to?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

搞gǎomake
鬼guǐghost or trick

搞 means to make, and 鬼 suggests tricks, giving the sense of making mischief.

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
高
高gāo搞gǎo
Same sound today

搞 has 扌, a hand, on the left and 高 on the right; the 高 part gives the sound.

Open 搞 →

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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