TongTong
Sign in

调皮 (tiáo pí) — naughty, mischievous

Definition

Naughty, mischievous — about children or pets, used for playful misbehavior. 任性 is stronger and more negative (willful, unreasonable); 淘气 and 顽皮 are near-synonyms with no clear distinction in modern use.

adjective
naughtymischievous

Examples

  • 调皮，。
    Zhè ge hái zi hěn tiáo pí, zǒng shì pǎo lái pǎo qù.
    This child is very naughty, always running around.
  • 调皮，。
    Lǎo shī shuō tā tài tiáo pí le, shàng kè bù zhuān xīn.
    The teacher said he is too naughty, not paying attention in class.
  • 调皮，。
    Bié tiáo pí, zhè shì gōng gòng chǎng suǒ.
    Don't be naughty, this is a public place.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

调tiáoteasing
皮pícheeky

调 gives teasing, and 皮 gives cheekiness; together they mean mischievous.

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 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Personality & Traits

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.