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流氓 (liú máng) — rogue, hoodlum, gangster; hooliganism, immoral behavior (often in 耍流氓 and 流氓行为)

Definition

流氓 (liúmáng) is a person who commits indecent or criminal acts (e.g. 耍流氓, 流氓行为) — used for hooligans and perverts, not a general criminal. Compare 歹徒 (a generic evildoer) and 无赖 (a shameless rascal, not necessarily violent).

noun
roguehoodlumgangsterhooliganismimmoral behavior (often in 耍流氓 and 流氓行为)

Examples

  • 流氓。
    Nà ge liú máng bèi jǐng chá zhuā zǒu le.
    That rogue was taken away by the police.
  • 流氓。
    Tā nà xiē liú máng xíng wéi ràng lín jū fēi cháng hài pà.
    His hooligan behavior made the neighbors very scared.
  • 流氓。
    Tā zài gōng jiāo chē shàng shuǎ le yí cì liú máng.
    He acted indecently on the bus once.

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.

流liúwandering
氓mángpeople

流氓 pairs 流, suggesting wandering, with 氓, meaning people, so it denotes unsettled persons who behave badly.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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
民民mínpeople
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng氓méng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

氓 pairs 民, meaning 'people', with 亡, which supplies its sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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