歹毒 (dǎi dú) — vicious, malicious

Definition

A strong word for a vicious, evil-hearted person or behavior — sharper than 恶毒, which focuses on cruel words or deeds. Used to describe someone's nature (心, 目光, 行为), not mild criticism.

adjective
viciousmalicious

Examples

  • 歹毒。
    Zhè ge rén de xīn tài dǎi dú le.
    This person's heart is too vicious.
  • 歹毒。
    Tā yòng dǎi dú de mù guāng kàn zhe wǒ.
    He looked at me with a malicious glare.
  • 歹毒，。
    Tā de xíng wéi fēi cháng dǎi dú, méi rén yuàn yì jiē jìn tā.
    Her behavior is extremely malicious; no one wants to get close to her.

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.

歹dǎievil
毒dúharmful

歹 means evil and 毒 means harmful, so the two negative ideas combine to describe vicious intent.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 歹 →

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
屮屮chèvegetation
Sound part声符shēngfú
毐
毐ǎi毒dú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Open 毒 →

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