疑心病 (yí xīn bìng) — suspicious frame of mind (tendency to distrust others); hypochondria (excessive anxiety about one's health)

Definition

A mental tendency to distrust others (sense 1) or obsess over one's own health (sense 2). The two senses are unrelated — context (people vs illness) tells you which is meant.

noun
suspicious frame of mind (tendency to distrust others)hypochondria (excessive anxiety about one's health)

Examples

  • ，疑心病。
    Tā zǒng huái yí bié rén zài bèi hòu shuō tā, yí xīn bìng tài zhòng le.
    He always suspects others are talking behind his back; he's too paranoid.
  • ，疑心病，。
    Nǐ zhěng tiān dān xīn zì jǐ shēng bìng, zhè shì yí xīn bìng de biǎo xiàn, jiàn yì kàn kàn xīn lǐ yī shēng.
    You worry about getting sick all day — that's hypochondria; you should see a psychologist.
  • 疑心病，。
    Yīn wèi yí xīn bìng, tā bù gǎn gēn rèn hé rén shēn jiāo.
    Because of his paranoid nature, he doesn't dare to get close to anyone.

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.

疑心suspect in mind
疑yísuspect心xīnmind
动宾Verb + object
病bìngillness

疑 means suspect, 心 means mind, and 病 means illness; an illness of suspecting in the mind.

Characters in this word

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
疒疒nèsickness
Sound part声符shēngfú
丙
丙bǐng病bìng
Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

Open 病 →

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