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顶头上司 (dǐng tóu shàng si) — one's direct superior; immediate boss

Definition

Direct superior — the person immediately above you in the chain of command, with no managers in between. Skip unless contrasted with nearby items.

noun
one's direct superiorimmediate boss

Examples

  • 顶头上司。
    Zhè jiàn shì xū yào wèn yí xià wǒ de dǐng tóu shàng si.
    I need to ask my direct superior about this matter.
  • 顶头上司。
    Tā de dǐng tóu shàng si gěi tā ān pái le yí gè xīn xiàng mù.
    His direct superior assigned him a new project.
  • ，顶头上司。
    Zài gōng sī lǐ, dǐng tóu shàng si duì tā de gōng zuò hěn mǎn yì.
    In the company, his direct superior is very satisfied with his work.

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.

顶头topmost
顶dǐngtop头tóuhead
联合Coordinate
上司superior
上shàngupper司sīofficial
偏正Modifier + head

顶头 gives the sense of topmost or immediate, and 上司 means a superior, so it names one's direct boss.

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 頂; 顶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng頂dǐng
Same sound today

The traditional form 頂 pairs 頁, meaning head, with 丁, which supplies the sound; the simplified 顶 is a later abbreviation.

Open 顶 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →
Appears in
Workplace & Office

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