自嘲 (zì cháo) — to mock oneself, to laugh at oneself (self-depr… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Self-mockery: deliberately laughing at or making fun of yourself to ease tension, defuse criticism, or appear humble. It is a deliberate social strategy, not just feeling bad about yourself.

verb

to mock oneselfto laugh at oneself (self-deprecation)

Examples

自嘲。
Tā xǐ huan yòng zì cháo lái huǎn jiě gān gà.
He likes to use self-mockery to ease awkward situations.
自嘲。
Tā zì cháo dì shuō zì jǐ shì gè lù chī.
She said with self-mockery that she has no sense of direction.
，自嘲。
Miàn duì pī píng, tā xuǎn zé le zì cháo ér bú shì biàn jiě.
Faced with criticism, he chose self-mockery over making excuses.

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.

自zìoneself

自 (oneself) 嘲 (mock) turns the mockery back on the self.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口朝嘲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

朝

朝cháo嘲cháo

Same sound today

嘲 pairs 口, the mouth, with 朝 as a sound part. The mouth part relates to the meaning.

Appears in

Communication & Speech Emotions & Feelings

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