TongTong
Sign in

狰狞 (zhēng níng) — ferocious, savage (used to describe a facial expression or appearance)

Definition

Written/literary word for a ferocious, savage look (face, expression, teeth) — stronger and more formal than 凶. Used almost only as a 定语 or 状语 before 面孔/表情/牙齿.

verb
ferocioussavage (used to describe a facial expression or appearance)

Examples

  • 狰狞。
    Tā zhēng níng de miàn kǒng ràng wǒ hěn hài pà.
    His ferocious face really scared me.
  • 狰狞。
    Nà zhī yě gǒu lù chū zhēng níng de yá chǐ.
    That stray dog bared its savage teeth.
  • 狰狞，。
    Tā zhēng níng dì dèng zhe wǒ, yí jù huà yě bù shuō.
    She glared at me ferociously without saying a word.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

狰zhēng
狞níng

The characters 狰 and 狞 do not carry separate meanings here; together they paint a ferocious, savage look.

Sound-only characters

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 猙; 狰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
爭
爭zhēng猙
Same sound today

The traditional form 猙 pairs 犬 (dog) with 爭 for sound; the simplified 狰 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in
Appearance

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.