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纵容 (zòng róng) — to indulge, to connive at (bad behavior or wrongdoing)

Definition

纵容 means 'to indulge / connive at' — a negative judgment: you let bad behavior continue. Unlike 宽容 (forgive, patient) and 容忍 (put up with), 纵容 implies blame for enabling the wrong behavior.

verb
to indulgeto connive at (bad behavior or wrongdoing)

Examples

  • 纵容。
    Fù mǔ bú yīng gāi zòng róng hái zi de huài xí guàn.
    Parents should not indulge their children's bad habits.
  • 纵容。
    Lǎo shī bù néng zòng róng xué shēng zuò bì.
    The teacher cannot connive at students cheating.
  • 纵容，。
    Tā zòng róng zì jǐ de lǎn duò, jié guǒ shī bài le.
    He indulged his own laziness and ended up failing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

纵zònglet loose
容róngtolerate

纵 means to let loose and 容 means to tolerate; together they mean to indulge wrongdoing.

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 縱; 纵 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
從
從cóng縱zòng
Same sound today

The traditional form 縱 pairs the 糸 part with 從 as a sound part; the simplified 纵 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 纵 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng容róng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 容, the 宀 (roof) part points to holding or containing, and 公 gives the sound.

Open 容 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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