(chǔn) - stupid, foolish in Mandarin
chǔnTraditional: 蠢
Translation
stupid, foolish
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Word origin
Built from 春 (chūn, spring) over a doubled 虫 (insect), originally the stirring and wriggling of insects as spring arrives, later extended to clumsy and slow-witted.
- Origin
- phono-semantic
- Root
- 春 (chūn, spring, phonetic) + 虫虫 (insects)
Stroke order
蠢
Examples
。
I did something very stupid.
。
Do not ask such a stupid question.
，。
He is not stupid, he simply has no experience.
，。
Doing it that way is far too stupid, anyone can see it.
。
I was stupid enough at the time to believe what he said.
蠢 (chǔn) means stupid in the blunt sense: not slow to learn, but foolish, badly judged, the sort of thing you regret an hour later. It attaches happily to actions and decisions, as in 蠢事 (a stupid thing to do) and 蠢主意 (a daft idea).
Register matters. 蠢 lands harder than 笨 (bèn), which is closer to "not very bright" and can be said fondly. Calling a person 蠢 to their face is an insult, not teasing. The two-character 愚蠢 (yúchǔn) is the formal written version, common in essays and news reports where the bare 蠢 would be too casual.
The trap is aiming it at people rather than at what they did. English lets you say "that was stupid of me" lightly, and Mandarin does too, but only in the 我做了件蠢事 shape. Point the adjective straight at somebody with 你真蠢 and you have picked a fight.
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Start your free week (no card)This word is taught in chapter 29, lesson 11: 蠢, 反抗 and 8 more words.