歪主意 (wāi zhǔ yì) — crooked scheme; underhanded idea; bad/foolish advice (motivated by ill intent)

Definition

A 'crooked scheme' — a sneaky, ill-intentioned plan or piece of advice, not just a bad one. Pairs with 打 to mean 'cook up' such a scheme.

noun
crooked schemeunderhanded ideabad/foolish advice (motivated by ill intent)

Examples

  • ，歪主意。
    Tā zhěng tiān bù xiǎng zhèng shì, jìn dǎ wāi zhǔ yì.
    He never thinks about proper business; he's always cooking up crooked schemes.
  • 歪主意，。
    Bié tīng tā de wāi zhǔ yì, nà zhī huì ràng nǐ rě má fan.
    Don't listen to his evil advice — it'll only get you into trouble.
  • 歪主意，。
    Zhè míng xiǎn shì gè wāi zhǔ yì, yòng le kěn dìng chī kuī.
    This is clearly a bad idea; if you go with it, you'll definitely suffer.

Origin

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.

歪wāicrooked
主意idea
主zhǔprincipal意yìidea
偏正Modifier + head

歪 means crooked and 主意 means idea, giving a crooked idea.

Characters in this word

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

歪 is written with 不 (not) above 正 (straight; proper), so the shape shows something that is not straight.

Open 歪 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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