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耻笑 (chǐ xiào) — to ridicule, to sneer at

Definition

耻笑 (chǐxiào) means to ridicule or sneer at someone because you feel contempt for them. It is stronger and more hostile than 嘲笑 (mock casually) and far harsher than playful 调侃 (tease).

verb
to ridiculeto sneer at

Examples

  • 耻笑。
    Gōng kāi fěng cì bié rén zhī huì zāo dào dà jiā de chǐ xiào.
    Publicly mocking others will only earn everyone's ridicule.
  • 耻笑。
    Tā de wú zhī bèi rén chǐ xiào le hěn jiǔ.
    His ignorance was ridiculed by others for a long time.
  • ，耻笑。
    Zài zhè ge xiǎo chéng lǐ, tā yīn wèi shuō fāng yán ér bèi chǐ xiào.
    In this small town, she was ridiculed for speaking a dialect.

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.

耻chǐshame
笑xiàolaugh at

耻 adds the idea of shame to 笑, so to laugh at someone as if they were shameful.

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
耳耳ěr
Sound part声符shēngfú
止
止zhǐ耻chǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

耻 is written with 耳 (ear) on the left and 止 on the right. Here 止 gives the sound, while 耳 is the meaning part.

Open 耻 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Attitudes & OpinionsCommunication & Speech

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.