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费解 (fèi jiě) — hard to understand, obscure, unintelligible

Definition

费解 (fèi jiě) means 'hard to understand / obscure', usually because the meaning is puzzling or cryptic. Stronger than just 难懂 — it implies something is baffling rather than merely difficult.

adjective
hard to understandobscureunintelligible

Examples

  • 费解，。
    Zhè piān wén zhāng de jié lùn shí fēn fèi jiě, dú zhě hěn nán gēn shàng zuò zhě de sī lù.
    The conclusion of this article is very hard to understand, making it difficult for readers to follow the author's train of thought.
  • 费解，。
    Tā shuō de lǐ yóu tài fèi jiě le, méi rén néng míng bai.
    The reasons he gave were too obscure; no one could understand them.
  • 费解，。
    Zhè shǒu shī de yǔ yán huì sè fèi jiě, xū yào fǎn fù tuī qiāo.
    The language of this poem is obscure and hard to understand, requiring repeated deliberation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

费fèicost
解jiěunderstanding

费 suggests costing effort, and 解 means understanding, so the word describes something hard to understand.

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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

解 shows 刀 (knife) separating 角 (horn) from 牛 (cow), giving the picture of cutting up an ox.

Open 解 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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