TongTong
Sign in

褒贬 (bāo biǎn) — to appraise; to pass judgment on

Definition

褒贬 specifically means weighing both the good and bad sides when evaluating something, often people or their work. Among siblings, 评审/评判 focus on judging quality, 夸奖 is only praise, and 判决 is a legal verdict.

verb
to appraiseto pass judgment on

Examples

  • 褒贬。
    Tā xǐ huan bāo biǎn shí shì.
    He likes to comment on current events.
  • 褒贬。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men hù xiāng bāo biǎn zuò wén.
    The teacher asked us to appraise each other's compositions.
  • 褒贬。
    Bú yào suí biàn bāo biǎn bié rén de shēng huó fāng shì.
    Don't casually pass judgment on other people's lifestyles.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

褒bāopraise
贬biǎnblame

褒贬 joins 褒 (praise) and 贬 (blame) to mean appraisal.

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
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
保
保bǎo褒bāo
Same sound today

褒 combines 衣, a meaning part, with 保, a sound part.

Open 褒 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貶; 贬 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貶 pairs 貝 (shell) with 乏 giving the sound; the simplified 贬 is a later shorthand.

Open 贬 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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