病夫 (bìng fū) — (derogatory) weakling, invalid (historical slur with strong negative connotation)

Definition

A derogatory, outdated slur meaning 'sick man / weakling,' historically used in the insulting phrase '东亚病夫' (Sick Man of East Asia). Strongly insulting today — never use it to describe a sick person; say 病人 instead.

noun
(derogatory) weaklinginvalid (historical slur with strong negative connotation)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，病夫。
    Tā zhěng tiān bú yùn dòng, kuài biàn chéng bìng fū le.
    He never exercises — he's becoming a weakling.
  • “病夫”。
    Lì shǐ shàng "dōng yà bìng fū" zhè ge cí shì jí dà de wǔ rǔ.
    Historically, the term 'Sick Man of East Asia' was a huge insult.
  • 病夫，。
    Bié jiào tā bìng fū, nà tài shāng rén le.
    Don't call him a weakling — that's too hurtful.

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.

病bìngsick
夫fūman

病 (sick) plus 夫 (man) gives a sick man.

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
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 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

Open 夫 →

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