轻视 (qīng shì) — to despise; to look down upon; to scorn

Definition

A written-formal verb 'to look down on, to undervalue' — similar to 蔑视 and 藐视, but milder, closer to 'dismiss' or 'underestimate' than to deep personal contempt (which 鄙视 or 侮辱 convey).

verb

to despiseto look down uponto scorn

Examples

轻视。
Tā fēi cháng qīng shì zhè fèn gōng zuò de jià zhí.
He greatly despises the value of this job.
轻视，。
Bú yào qīng shì duì shǒu de shí lì, fǒu zé nǐ huì shū.
Don't underestimate your opponent's strength, or you will lose.
轻视。
Tā zǒng shì qīng shì wǒ de jiàn yì.
She always looks down on my suggestions.

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.

轻qīnglightly

视shìlook

轻 (lightly) and 视 (look) combine to mean looking down on someone.

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 輕; 轻 is its simplified writing.

車巠輕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

車車jūcarriage

Sound part声符shēngfú

巠

巠jīng輕qīng

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

The traditional form 輕 pairs 車, a carriage, with 巠 to give the sound; it originally named a light carriage. The simplified 轻 is only a later shorthand.

Open 轻 →

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 視; 视 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

示

示shì視shì

Same sound today

The story is about the traditional form 視: it combines 見, meaning see, with 示, which gives the sound shì.

Open 视 →

Appears in