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胆怯 (dǎn qiè) — timid, cowardly

Definition

胆怯 (dǎnqiè) means 'timid / cowardly' — emphasizes fear and backing away in the moment, stronger than the everyday 胆小. 腼腆 is about social shyness, not fear.

adjective
timidcowardly

Examples

  • 胆怯。
    Tā dì yī cì shàng tái yǎn jiǎng shí fēi cháng dǎn qiè.
    He was very timid when giving his first speech on stage.
  • 胆怯，。
    Yù dào kùn nan bú yào dǎn qiè, yào yǒng gǎn miàn duì.
    Don't be cowardly when facing difficulties; face them bravely.
  • 胆怯。
    Tā dǎn qiè dì duǒ zài mā ma shēn hòu.
    She hid timidly behind her mother.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

胆dǎncourage
怯qiètimid

胆 refers to courage and 怯 to timidity; the image is that one's courage is timid.

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part
Sound part声符shēngfú
旦
旦dàn胆dǎn
Same sound today

胆 combines ⺼, written as 肉 when full, for a body part, with 旦 as a sound part.

Open 胆 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 怯 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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