耻辱 (chǐ rǔ) — disgrace, shame, humiliation | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

耻辱 (chǐrǔ) is a formal noun for deep, lasting disgrace — for events, history, or one's condition. 丢脸 is the colloquial verb for the act of losing face, while 羞耻 is the adjective describing the feeling of shame.

noun

disgraceshamehumiliation

Examples

，耻辱。
Zuò bì bèi jiē fā hòu, tā gǎn dào qián suǒ wèi yǒu de chǐ rǔ.
After being exposed for cheating, he felt an unprecedented disgrace.
耻辱。
Lì shǐ shàng de zhè yí yè xiě mǎn le chǐ rǔ.
This page in history is filled with shame.
耻辱。
Tā nìng yuàn sǐ yě bú yuàn rěn shòu zhè zhǒng chǐ rǔ.
He would rather die than endure this humiliation.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

辱rǔdisgrace

耻 and 辱 both concern disgrace, so together they mean shame or humiliation.

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.

耳止耻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

辰寸辱

辰辰chénhoe
寸寸cùnhand

辱 combines 辰, drawn as a hoe, with 寸, drawn as a hand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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