狡诈 (jiǎo zhà) — deceitful, crafty, cunning

Definition

Strong, written-form word for someone who is deceitful and tricky on purpose, often in scheming for personal gain. Carries a stronger negative judgment than the more neutral 狡猾 (which can mean 'shrewd' or 'resourceful').

adjective
deceitfulcraftycunning

Examples

  • 狡诈,。
    Zhè ge rén tài jiǎo zhà le, wǒ men bú yào xiāng xìn tā.
    This person is too cunning; we shouldn't trust him.
  • 狡诈。
    Tā de jiǎo zhà shǒu duàn zuì zhōng bèi shí pò le.
    His crafty tactics were eventually exposed.
  • 狡诈。
    Cóng tā jiǎo zhà de xiào róng jiù néng kàn chū tā zài jì huà shén me.
    From her deceitful smile, you could tell she was planning something.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

狡jiǎocunning
诈zhàdeceit

The “狡” of cunning and the “诈” of deceit combine to describe crafty dishonesty.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 詐; 诈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà詐zhà
Same sound today

The traditional form 詐 shows 言 (speech) plus 乍 as a sound part; the simplified 诈 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 诈 →

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