说空话 (shuō kōng huà) — to talk empty words, to spout empty verbiage

Definition

说空话 means to spout empty talk — saying a lot without substance or action. Focuses on the futility of the words themselves, often in criticism of officials or leaders.

verb
to talk empty wordsto spout empty verbiage

Examples

  • 说空话，。
    Tā zhī huì shuō kōng huà, cóng lái bú zuò shì.
    He only talks empty talk, never does anything.
  • ，。
    Bié tīng tā de, tā shuō de dōu shì kōng huà.
    Don't listen to him; everything he says is empty talk.
  • ，。
    Lǐng dǎo zài huì shàng shuō le yí dà duī kōng huà, méi yǒu jiě jué rèn hé wèn tí.
    The leader spouted a whole pile of empty talk at the meeting and didn't solve any problem.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

说shuōto speak
空话empty words
空kōngempty话huàwords
偏正Modifier + head

说 means 'to speak', 空 means 'empty', and 话 means 'words', so the whole is to speak empty words.

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
兌
兌duì說shuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →

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
穴穴xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng空kōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

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