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穷鬼 (qióng guǐ) — (derogatory) pauper, poor bastard, poverty-stricken fellow

Definition

A strong, insulting term for a 'poor bastard / pauper' — derogatory and colloquial, used to mock someone for being broke. Stronger and ruder than neutral 穷人.

noun
(derogatory) pauperpoor bastardpoverty-stricken fellow
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，穷鬼。
    Tā nà me qióng, méi rén yuàn yì gēn qióng guǐ zuò péng you.
    He is so poor that no one wants to be friends with a pauper like him.
  • 穷鬼。
    Tā lǎo cháo xiào nà xiē qióng guǐ.
    She always mocks those paupers.
  • 穷鬼，。
    Bié mà tā shì qióng guǐ, tā yě hěn nǔ lì de.
    Don't call him a pauper — he works hard too.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

穷qióngpoor
鬼guǐperson

穷 gives poor and 鬼 adds a derogatory person, forming a poverty-stricken fellow.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 窮; 穷 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
穴穴xuécave; nest; confinement
Sound part声符shēngfú
躬
躬gōng窮qióng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 窮, 穴 (cave; nest; confinement) gives the sense and 躬 gives the sound; this is about 窮, not the simplified 穷.

Open 穷 →

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →
Appears in
People (General)

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