谋士 (móu shì) — adviser; counselor; strategist

Definition

A 谋士 is an adviser or strategist who offers wise counsel, typically in political, military, or courtly contexts (often historical/classical). It implies a person who thinks through problems rather than just relays information.

noun
advisercounselorstrategist
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • 谋士。
    Zhè wèi móu shì wèi guó wáng tí chū le hěn duō hǎo jiàn yì.
    This adviser made many good suggestions to the king.
  • 谋士。
    Tā shì yí wèi fēi cháng jī zhì de móu shì.
    He is a very resourceful strategist.
  • ，谋士。
    Zài gǔ dài, móu shì de dì wèi hěn gāo.
    In ancient times, advisers held a high status.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

谋móuplan
士shìperson

谋 means planning, and 士 names a person; together they give a strategist.

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 謀; 谋 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
某
某mǒu謀móu
Same sound today

The traditional form 謀 uses 言 to show it relates to speech and 某 to show its sound; the simplified 谋 is a later shorthand.

Open 谋 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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