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有愧 (yǒu kuì) — to have a guilty conscience; to feel regret or shame

Definition

Literary/formal phrase meaning 'to feel guilt or shame' about something one has done. It is more often negated (问心无愧 'with a clear conscience') than used affirmatively, and is more bookish than the plain 后悔.

verb
to have a guilty conscienceto feel regret or shame

Examples

  • ，有愧。
    Zhè me zuò, wǒ zǒng jué de yǒu kuì.
    When I do this, I always feel guilty.
  • 。
    Wǒ duì zhè jiàn shì méi shén me kuì.
    I feel no guilt about this matter.
  • 有愧。
    Tā yīn wèi shuō huǎng ér yǒu kuì.
    He felt guilty because he lied.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

有yǒuhave
愧kuìshame

有 means have, and 愧 means shame; together they describe having a guilty conscience.

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬼
鬼guǐ愧kuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

愧 has 心, the heart, on the left and 鬼 on the right. 鬼 gives the sound, while 心 shows that the meaning is a feeling in the heart.

Open 愧 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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