起疑 (qǐ yí) — to become suspicious, to start to doubt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb meaning 'to start to doubt, to become suspicious' — focuses on the onset of suspicion, usually followed by 对 + person or thing. Compare 怀疑, which describes an ongoing state of doubt.

verb

to become suspiciousto start to doubt

Examples

起疑。
Tā duì péng you de huà qǐ yí le.
He became suspicious of his friend's words.
，。
Tā yǐ jīng qǐ le yí, bú huì qīng yì xiāng xìn nǐ.
He has already become suspicious and won't easily believe you.
起疑。
Jǐng chá duì nà ge nán rén de xíng wéi qǐ yí.
The police became suspicious of that man's behavior.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

起 means to start and 疑 means doubt, so together they mean to begin doubting.

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.

走巳起

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

巳

巳sì起qǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

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

大大dàstanding human figure
夂夂zhǐtilted head with open mouth
丨丨gǔncane

疑 depicts a standing figure 大 with a tilted, open-mouthed head 夂 and a cane 丨, a confused person looking around for direction.

Appears in

Thinking & Cognition

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