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滋事 (zī shì) — to stir up trouble, to create an incident

Definition

滋事 (zī shì) means to deliberately create a disturbance or incident — used in formal and legal language (e.g. 寻衅滋事 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble'). It describes intentional wrongdoing, not casual quarrels.

verb
to stir up troubleto create an incident

Examples

  • 滋事，。
    Tā zài jiǔ bā zī shì, bèi jǐng chá dài zǒu le.
    He stirred up trouble at the bar and was taken away by the police.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge rén yǐ qián zī guò shì, dà jiā yào xiǎo xīn.
    This person has stirred up trouble before — everyone should be careful.
  • 滋事。
    Xún xìn zī shì shì yì zhǒng wéi fǎ xíng wéi.
    Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble is an illegal act.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

滋zīcause
事shìtrouble

滋 means to cause, and 事 is trouble, so 滋事 means to stir up an incident.

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shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
茲
茲zī滋zī
Same sound today

滋 pairs 水 (water) with 茲, which gives it its sound.

Open 滋 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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