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狡辩 (jiǎo biàn) — to quibble; to engage in sophistry

Definition

狡辩 means to defend oneself with fallacious or self-serving arguments when clearly wrong — a disapproving term, stronger than just 'arguing back'. The verb is separable (离合词): 狡辩什么 / 别狡辩了.

verb
to quibbleto engage in sophistry

Examples

  • ，狡辩？
    Zhèng jù què záo, nǐ hái zài jiǎo biàn shén me?
    The evidence is solid — what are you still quibbling about?
  • ，狡辩。
    Tā míng míng cuò le, què hái zài nà lǐ jiǎo biàn.
    He is clearly wrong, yet he keeps sophistically arguing.
  • 狡辩，。
    Bié jiǎo biàn le, chéng rèn shì shí ba.
    Stop quibbling and face the facts.

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.

狡jiǎosly
辩biànargue

狡 means sly and 辩 means argue, giving the sense of arguing in a tricky way.

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 辯; 辩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
辡
辡biàn辯biàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 辯 pairs 言, meaning say, with 辡, which gives the sound; the simplified 辩 is a later shorthand.

Open 辩 →
Appears in
Conflict & Agreement

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