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黑心 (hēi xīn) — black heart; evil mind; wickedness

Definition

A noun for a 'black/evil heart' — describes someone whose heart is bad, prioritizing personal gain without conscience. Often used attributively before nouns (黑心钱, 黑心商家) to modify 'wicked/ill-gotten'.

noun
black heartevil mindwickedness

Examples

  • 黑心，。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī mài hēi xīn shí pǐn, bèi chá le.
    This company sold tainted food and was investigated.
  • ，黑心，。
    Tā wèi le zhuàn qián, zhēn hēi xīn, shén me dōu bú gù.
    He's really wicked in order to make money, caring about nothing.
  • 黑心，。
    Wǒ men bù néng zhuàn hēi xīn qián, yào píng liáng xīn zuò shì.
    We mustn't make ill-gotten money; we should act according to conscience.

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.

黑hēiblack
心xīnheart

The phrase pictures 心 as 黑, suggesting wickedness.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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