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顽皮 (wán pí) — naughty, mischievous

Definition

A vivid, often affectionate word for 'naughty, mischievous' (especially kids or pets), stronger than 调皮. Don't confuse with 顽固, which means 'stubborn'.

adjective
naughtymischievous

Examples

  • 顽皮。
    Zhè ge wán pí de xiǎo gǒu zǒng shì yǎo wǒ de xié zi.
    This naughty little dog always bites my shoes.
  • 顽皮，。
    Xiǎo shí hou wǒ hěn wán pí, jīng cháng ràng mā ma shēng qì.
    I was very naughty as a child and often made my mom angry.
  • 顽皮，。
    Bié nà me wán pí, hǎo hǎo zuò zhe tīng kè.
    Don't be so naughty; sit properly and listen to the lesson.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

顽wánstubborn
皮pímischievous

顽 “stubborn” and 皮 “mischievous” combine to mean naughty.

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 頑; 顽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán頑wán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 頑, 元 gave the sound and 頁 showed 'head'; the sense was 'a stubborn head'.

Open 顽 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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