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死人 (sǐ rén) — dead person, corpse; (colloquial, derogatory) lazybones, dunce

Definition

Literally 'dead person,' but colloquially a harsh insult calling someone a useless dunce or lazybones. Very strong language — avoid in neutral or polite contexts.

noun
dead personcorpse(colloquial, derogatory) lazybonesdunce
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 死人。
    Chē huò xiàn chǎng yǒu yí gè sǐ rén.
    There was a dead person at the car accident scene.
  • 死人，！
    Bié xiàng gè sǐ rén yí yàng, kuài diǎn zuò shì!
    Don't be like a lazybones, hurry up and work!
  • 死人，。
    Tā zhēn shì gè sǐ rén, zhè me jiǎn dān de wèn tí dōu bú huì.
    He's such a dunce, he can't even solve such a simple problem.

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.

死sǐdead
人rénperson

死 means dead and 人 means person; 死人 refers to a dead person or corpse, and colloquially a lazy or dull person.

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
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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