草草 (cǎo cǎo) — carelessly, hastily, in a perfunctory manner

Definition

草草 is a reduplicated adverb meaning 'carelessly, in a rush' — it carries a negative judgment, framing the action as not done properly. Pairs with verbs like 了事, 收场, 结束 to mean wrapping something up hastily.

adverb
carelesslyhastilyin a perfunctory manner

Examples

  • 草草。
    Tā cǎo cǎo dì xiě le jǐ háng zì jiù jiāo juàn le.
    He hastily scribbled a few lines and handed in the exam paper.
  • 草草，。
    Zhè ge bào gào zuò dé tài cǎo cǎo, hěn duō xì jié dōu méi tí dào.
    This report was done too carelessly; many details were not mentioned.
  • 草草，。
    Wǒ men bù néng cǎo cǎo liǎo shì, bì xū rèn zhēn duì dài měi yí gè huán jié.
    We cannot just finish things hastily; we must take every step seriously.

Origin

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 →

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 →

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