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草包 (cǎo bāo) — (colloquial, figurative) a worthless or incompetent person; good-for-nothing; windbag; (literally) a straw bag or sack

Definition

In modern Chinese, 草包 is almost always an insult meaning 'useless person' or 'windbag' — someone who talks big but can't deliver. The literal 'straw bag' sense is rare in everyday use.

noun
(colloquial, figurative) a worthless or incompetent persongood-for-nothingwindbag(literally) a straw bag or sack
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，草包，。
    Tā kàn qǐ lái tǐng lì hài, qí shí shì gè cǎo bāo, shén me shì dōu zuò bù hǎo.
    He looks quite capable, but actually he's a good-for-nothing who can't do anything right.
  • ，草包。
    Bié xiāng xìn tā shuō de nà xiē dà huà, tā jiù shì gè cǎo bāo.
    Don't believe all that big talk he says — he's just a windbag.
  • 草包。
    Nóng mín bǎ dào gǔ zhuāng jìn cǎo bāo lǐ yùn zǒu.
    The farmer loaded the rice into straw sacks and transported them away.

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.

草cǎostraw
包bāobag

'草' (straw) and '包' (bag) build the idea of a straw sack, used for a worthless person.

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

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

The shape of 包 pictures a fetus in a womb, or a baby wrapped in cloth.

Open 包 →
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