笨重 (bèn zhòng) — heavy, cumbersome, unwieldy | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Describes a physical object that is heavy and awkward to handle because of its bulk. Unlike 沉重, which is often abstract (mood, tasks), 笨重 refers to tangible things that are hard to move.

adjective

heavycumbersomeunwieldy

Examples

笨重，。
Zhè zhǒng jiù jiā jù fēi cháng bèn zhòng, hěn nán bān dòng.
This old furniture is very heavy and cumbersome, difficult to move.
笨重。
Zhè ge bèn zhòng de jī qì zhàn le hěn duō dì fāng.
This heavy and cumbersome machine takes up a lot of space.
笨重。
Tā men yòng kǎ chē yùn zǒu le nà xiē bèn zhòng de huò wù.
They used a truck to transport those heavy and cumbersome goods.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

笨 gives the idea of clumsy, and 重 gives the idea of heavy, together meaning cumbersome.

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.

竹本笨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

本

本běn笨bèn

Same sound today

笨 is made of 竹 and 本, where 本 gives the sound and 竹 is related to the meaning.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

東

東dōng重zhòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Size & Dimension

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