逗

dòu

豆 + 辶

HSK 2.0Level 5

HSK 3.0Level 6

Definitions

dòu (verb) to tease; to play with

dòu (verb) to pause; to stop briefly

dòu (adjective) amusing

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound.

Semantic: 辶 Phonetic: 豆

About

The character 逗 is a phono-semantic compound, with the semantic radical 辶 (related to movement) on the left and the phonetic component 豆 on the right. Its original meaning referred to stopping or pausing during a journey. Over time, the sense shifted from physical pausing to the interpersonal act of teasing or playfully provoking laughter. It also came to denote a short grammatical pause in writing, serving a function similar to a comma.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他在逗小狗玩。

Tā zài dòu xiǎo gǒu wán.

He is playing with the puppy.

妹妹被哥哥逗笑了。

Mèimei bèi gēge dòu xiào le.

The younger sister was made to laugh by her older brother.

我们在公园逗留了一会儿。

Wǒmen zài gōngyuán dòuliú le yīhuìr.

We stayed in the park for a while.

别逗我了，我说真的。

Bié dòu wǒ le, wǒ shuō zhēn de.

Don't tease me, I'm serious.

他经常用笑话逗大家开心。

Tā jīngcháng yòng xiàohua dòu dàjiā kāixīn.

He often uses jokes to amuse everyone.

小猫逗得孩子们哈哈大笑。

Xiǎo māo dòu dé háizimen hāhā dàxiào.

The kitten amused the children so much that they laughed heartily.

他在会议上逗趣的发言缓解了紧张气氛。

Tā zài huìyì shàng dòuqù de fāyán huǎnjiě le jǐnzhāng qìfēn.

His humorous speech at the meeting eased the tense atmosphere.

尽管天气不好，他们还是在海边逗留了整个下午。

Jǐnguǎn tiānqì bù hǎo, tāmen háishì zài hǎibiān dòuliú le zhěnggè xiàwǔ.

Despite the bad weather, they still stayed at the beach the whole afternoon.

Related Characters

Component: 豆

Component: 辶

逗