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母老虎 (mǔ lǎo hǔ) — (figurative, colloquial) a fierce and domineering woman; shrew; termagant

Definition

A colloquial, mildly insulting label for a fierce, domineering woman — literally 'mother tiger', i.e. a tigress. Stronger and more vulgar than 泼妇 (shrew); softer and more colloquial than 女强人, which praises rather than criticizes.

noun
(figurative, colloquial) a fierce and domineering womanshrewtermagant
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 母老虎，。
    Tā de qī zi shì gè mǔ lǎo hǔ, jiā lǐ rén dōu bù gǎn rě tā.
    His wife is a shrew; nobody in the family dares to provoke her.
  • ，母老虎。
    Bié xiǎo kàn tā, tā zài gōng sī kě shì yǒu míng de mǔ lǎo hǔ.
    Don't underestimate her — she's a well-known dragon lady at the company.
  • 母老虎。
    Diàn shì jù lǐ nà ge mǔ lǎo hǔ de jué sè ràng rén yìn xiàng hěn shēn.
    The character of that fierce woman in the TV drama left a deep impression.

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.

母mǔfemale
老虎tiger
老lǎo虎hǔtiger
前缀Prefix

母 means female, and 老虎 is tiger, so a fierce woman is like a female tiger.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 母 →

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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

虎 originally drew a tiger's head. Its body disappeared, and the legs and tail became the lower part.

Open 虎 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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