迂腐 (yū fǔ) — pedantic, dogmatic, trite (of a person stubbornly adhering to outdated ideas)

Definition

A negative judgment on a person who clings stubbornly to outdated, rigid ideas and rejects change. Often used of older or scholarly people whose thinking is out of touch with reality.

adjective
pedanticdogmatictrite (of a person stubbornly adhering to outdated ideas)

Examples

  • 迂腐。
    Tā nà xiē yū fǔ de guān diǎn zài xiàn dài shè huì gēn běn xíng bù tōng.
    His pedantic views simply won't work in modern society.
  • ，迂腐，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo xiān sheng suī rán xué wèn hěn dà, dàn wèi rén shí fēn yū fǔ, tīng bú jìn bù tóng yì jiàn.
    This old gentleman is highly learned but extremely dogmatic — he won't listen to different opinions.
  • 迂腐，。
    Bié yòng nà xiē yū fǔ de lǎo yí tào lái yāo qiú nián qīng rén, shí dài biàn le.
    Don't use those trite old formulas to demand of young people — times have changed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

迂yūpedantic
腐fǔstale

“迂” suggests roundabout pedantry, and “腐” suggests stale outdatedness, together describing a rigid, pedantic person.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròuflesh; body
Sound part声符shēngfú
府
府fǔ腐fǔ
Same sound today

腐 is built from 肉, meaning flesh or body, and 府, pronounced fǔ, which gives the sound.

Open 腐 →

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