TongTong
Sign in

胡乱 (hú luàn) — carelessly; recklessly; at random

Definition

胡乱 means doing something carelessly, without thinking. It pairs naturally with action verbs like 答应, 花钱, 猜, often with a negative or warning tone. Compare 任意 (acting on personal whim) and 不经意 (simply not noticing).

adverb
carelesslyrecklesslyat random

Examples

  • 胡乱。
    Tā hú luàn dā ying le.
    He agreed carelessly.
  • 胡乱。
    Bié hú luàn huā qián.
    Don't spend money recklessly.
  • 胡乱。
    Tā hú luàn huí dá le yí gè wèn tí.
    He answered a question at random.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

胡húrecklessly
乱luàndisorderly

胡 and 乱 both mean disorderly or random, together describing careless action.

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ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ胡hú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

胡 combines 古, which points to its sound, with ⺼ (肉), meaning meat or flesh.

Open 胡 →

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 亂; 乱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乚Written in full as乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
𤔔
𤔔𤔔亂luàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 亂 contains 𤔔, a drawing of combing tangled threads, and 乙; the simplified 乱 is only a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 乱 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6

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