贪财 (tān cái) — to be greedy for money, money-mad | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Greedy for money; describes a person's character or behavior, often with a negative judgment. As a verb, takes 贪…的财 or 贪财.

to be greedy for moneymoney-mad

Examples

贪财。
Tā hěn tān cái.
He is very money-mad.
，。
Tā tān le yí bèi zi de cái, zuì hòu què yì wú suǒ yǒu.
He was greedy for money his whole life, but ended up with nothing.
贪财。
tān cái De rén wǎng wǎng bú kuài lè.
Money-mad people are often unhappy.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

Coveting wealth gives the sense of being greedy for money.

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 貪; 贪 is its simplified writing.

今貝貪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèimoney

Sound part声符shēngfú

今

今jīn貪tān

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

The traditional form 貪 places 今 (open mouth) above 貝 (money); 今 gives the sound, and 貝 relates to the meaning. 贪 is the simplified shorthand.

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 財; 财 is its simplified writing.

貝才財

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

才

才cái財cái

Same sound today

The traditional form 財 has 貝 (shell) next to 才, which gives the sound; the simplified 财 is a later shorthand.

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