猜疑 (cāi yí) — to be suspicious; to have misgivings (about someone or something)

Definition

猜疑 means to harbor ongoing suspicion or doubt about someone's motives or loyalty — a sustained state of distrust, not a one-off doubt. Contrast with 怀疑, which is more neutral 'to doubt or question' (a fact, idea, or person).

verb
to be suspiciousto have misgivings (about someone or something)

Examples

  • 猜疑,。
    Tā zǒng shì wú duān cāi yí bié rén, suǒ yǐ méi shén me péng you.
    He is always suspicious of others for no reason, so he doesn't have many friends.
  • 猜疑,。
    Fū qī zhī jiān rú guǒ hù xiāng cāi yí, gǎn qíng jiù huì biàn dàn.
    If a couple is suspicious of each other, their feelings will grow cold.
  • 猜疑,。
    Lǐng dǎo duì zhè jiàn shì chǎn shēng le cāi yí, jué dìng xiān diào chá qīng chǔ.
    The leader became suspicious about this matter and decided to investigate thoroughly first.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

猜cāiguess/suspect
疑yídoubt

猜 and 疑 both point to suspecting someone or something, so together they mean to be suspicious.

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
犭Written in full as犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng猜cāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

猜 pairs 犭, the dog radical (full form 犬), with 青 as the sound part.

Open 猜 →

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

  • 大大dàstanding human figure
  • 夂夂zhǐtilted head with open mouth
  • 丨丨gǔncane

疑 depicts a standing figure 大 with a tilted, open-mouthed head 夂 and a cane 丨, a confused person looking around for direction.

Open 疑 →

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