残暴 (cán bào) — ruthless, brutal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

adjective

ruthlessbrutal

残暴，。
Tā de xíng wéi fēi cháng cán bào, méi rén gǎn fǎn duì tā.
His behavior is extremely brutal; no one dares to oppose him.
残暴。
Lì shǐ shàng zhè ge cán bào de huáng dì shā le xǔ duō rén.
This brutal emperor in history killed many people.
残暴。
Zhè zhǒng cán bào de zuò fǎ shòu dào le quán shì jiè de qiǎn zé.
This kind of brutal practice was condemned by the whole world.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

残 and 暴 both describe cruelty and violence.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殘; 残 is its simplified writing.

歹戔殘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

歹歹dǎivicious, bones

Sound part声符shēngfú

戔

戔jiān殘cán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 殘 pairs 歹, a bone shape for injury, with 戔 for its sound; the simplified 残 is a later shorthand.

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

The earliest form paired 虎 and 戈, a tiger and a weapon. The later 暴 came from a picture of hands drying something in the sun.

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