腮帮子 (sāi bāng zi) — cheek (lower part, colloquial)

Definition

Colloquial, body-focused word for the cheek — specifically the fleshy lower part that puffs out when you eat or get angry. It is a 离合词, so it can split as 腮帮 (e.g., 鼓起腮帮). More casual and vivid than the everyday 脸 or 脸颊.

noun
cheek (lower part, colloquial)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 腮帮子。
    Tā qì dé sāi bāng zi gǔ gǔ de.
    He was so angry that his cheeks puffed out.
  • 腮帮子，。
    Tā yòng shǒu tuō zhe sāi bāng zi, hǎo xiàng zài sī kǎo.
    She rested her cheek on her hand, as if thinking.
  • ，腮帮子。
    Hái zi chī dé tài duō le, sāi bāng zi dōu yuán le.
    The child ate so much that his cheeks became round.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

腮帮cheek side
腮sāicheek帮bāngside
偏正Modifier + head
子zǐ

腮 names the cheek, 帮 suggests its side, and 子 completes the colloquial word.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 腮 →

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 幫; 帮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
帛帛bósilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
封
封fēng幫bāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 帮's traditional form 幫, 帛 (silk) gives the meaning and 封 gives the sound; it originally named the upper part of a shoe.

Open 帮 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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