胡吹 (hú chuī) — to brag wildly, to talk big (with unfounded claims)

Definition

胡吹 is an informal, pejorative verb meaning to brag wildly with no basis in fact — used to call out empty boasting. The 胡- prefix signals 'recklessly' (like 胡说, 胡闹), so it judges the speaker, unlike a neutral 'boast'.

verb
to brag wildlyto talk big (with unfounded claims)

Examples

  • 胡吹，。
    Tā zǒng ài hú chuī, bié xìn tā de huà.
    He always loves to brag wildly — don't believe his words.
  • 胡吹，。
    Bié hú chuī le, nǐ gēn běn zuò bú dào.
    Stop talking big — you can't do it at all.
  • 胡吹。
    Tā zài huì shàng hú chuī zì jǐ rèn shi hěn duō míng rén.
    He bragged wildly at the meeting about knowing many famous people.

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.

胡húrecklessly
吹chuītalk

胡 (recklessly) describes how one 吹 (talks).

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 →

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

吹 pairs 口 (mouth) with 欠 (blow), giving the picture of air being blown from the mouth.

Open 吹 →

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