鄙视 (bǐ shì) — to despise, to disdain, to look down upon | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A written/formal verb for 'to despise,' stronger and more literary than the everyday 看不起. Closer to 蔑视 and 藐视 in register; 唾弃 adds active rejection, 嫌弃 is milder disgust.

verb

to despiseto disdainto look down upon

Easily confused

笔试bǐ shìsound-alike(verb) to take or administer a written examination

Examples

鄙视。
Tā yīn wèi qī piàn bèi dà jiā bǐ shì.
He is despised by everyone because of his deceit.
鄙视。
Wǒ bǐ shì nà zhǒng zì sī zì lì de rén.
I despise people who are selfish and self-centered.
鄙视。
Zhè zhǒng xíng wéi yīng gāi shòu dào shè huì de bǐ shì.
This kind of behavior should be looked down upon by society.

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.

鄙bǐcontempt or lowliness

鄙 gives contempt or lowliness, 视 gives looking; together they mean looking down on someone.

Characters in this word

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

啚啚bǐborder town
邑邑yìcity

鄙 began as 啚, a form for border town. It later adds 邑, a city, beside it.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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