讨厌 (tǎo yàn) — (verb) to dislike, to loathe; (adjective) annoy…

Definition

A daily-life word meaning 'to dislike / annoying' — milder than 厌恶 (which is strong hatred). Unlike 烦, it focuses on personal dislike rather than feeling troubled.

verb

to disliketo loathe

adjective

annoyingtroublesome

Examples

讨厌。
Wǒ tǎo yàn zhè zhǒng shuǐ guǒ.
I dislike this kind of fruit.
讨厌，。
Zhè ge gōng zuò zhēn tǎo yàn, wǒ xiǎng huàn yí gè.
This job is really annoying; I want to change it.
讨厌。
Wǒ tǎo yàn měi tiān zǎo qǐ.
I dislike waking up early every day.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

讨tǎoprovoke

厌yàndislike

Provoke and dislike combine to mean cause or feel aversion.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 討; 讨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yán

Sound part声符shēngfú

肘

肘zhǒu討tǎo

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 討 pairs 言 (speech) with a shortened form of 肘 for sound; an old reading took 言 plus 寸 (hand) as 'rectify'. The simplified 讨 is a shorthand, so its parts are not historical components.

Open 讨 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 厭; 厌 is its simplified writing.

厂猒厭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

厂厂chǎng

Sound part声符shēngfú

猒

猒yàn厭yàn

Same sound today

The traditional form 厭 combines 厂 as the meaning part with 猒 as the sound part; the simplified 厌 is a later abbreviation.

Open 厌 →