TongTong
Sign in

虐待 (nüè dài) — to mistreat, to abuse

Definition

To mistreat or abuse a person or animal through cruel, sustained ill-treatment — usually physical or psychological harm over time. Stronger than 亏待 ('treat unfairly' / neglect) and more serious than 骂 (verbal scolding).

verb
to mistreatto abuse

Examples

  • 虐待。
    Rèn hé xíng shì de nüè dài dōu shì bù kě jiē shòu de.
    Any form of abuse is unacceptable.
  • 虐待。
    Tā yīn nüè dài yuán gōng bèi gào shàng fǎ tíng.
    He was taken to court for mistreating employees.
  • 虐待。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi bǎo hù dòng wù bú shòu nüè dài.
    We should protect animals from abuse.

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.

虐nüècruel
待dàitreat

'虐' adds cruelty to '待', meaning to treat someone cruelly.

Characters in this word

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

An early form of 虐 showed 虎 (a tiger) and 人 (a person), like a tiger about to eat a person; this picture later came to mean cruel or tyrannical.

Open 虐 →

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
彳彳chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì待dài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

待 is built from 彳 on the left and 寺 on the right; 彳 is tied to the meaning, and 寺 gives the sound.

Open 待 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.