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讨好 (tǎo hǎo) — to curry favor with, to fawn on, to ingratiate oneself with; (in 费力不讨好) to get no thanks for one's efforts, a thankless task

Definition

讨好 is fawning to win someone's favor, often in a servile, insincere way — stronger and more negative than 迎合 ('cater/pander to', neutral or strategic). It also appears in the set phrase 费力不讨好 for a thankless task.

verb
to curry favor withto fawn onto ingratiate oneself with(in 费力不讨好) to get no thanks for one's efforts, a thankless task

Examples

  • ，讨好。
    Tā wèi le shēng zhí, zǒng shì tǎo hǎo jīng lǐ.
    He always fawns on the manager in order to get promoted.
  • 讨好，。
    Zhè jiàn shì zhēn shì fèi lì bù tǎo hǎo, zuò le yě méi rén gǎn xiè.
    This task is really a thankless one — even if you do it, nobody thanks you.
  • 讨好，。
    Nǐ zhè yàng tǎo hǎo tā, fǎn ér ràng tā jué de nǐ bù kě xìn.
    Fawning over her like this actually makes her think you're untrustworthy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

讨tǎoseek
好hǎofavor

讨 means seek and 好 means favor; together, to seek favor from others.

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 →

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

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Attitudes & OpinionsFriends & Social

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