傻 shǎ silly
silly; foolish; stupid
How to remember 傻: 亻 person + 囟 skull + 八 eight + 夊 pursue = silly. The person who bumps his skull on the door eight times while trying to pursue his cat looks a bit silly.
Component breakdown
傻 = 亻 person + 𡕩
- 亻 person
- 𡕩
- 囟 skull
- 八 eight
- 夊 pursue
The person who bumps his skull on the door eight times while trying to pursue his cat looks a bit silly.
How it is used
- Everyday spoken adjective meaning "silly, foolish" - 你真傻 (nǐ zhēn shǎ) - "you're so silly" can be an affectionate tease between friends/couples, not always an insult.
- 傻瓜 shǎguā "silly goose, dummy" is a mild, often endearing name-call; 傻子 shǎzi is harsher and can genuinely mean "idiot".
- Different from 笨 bèn "clumsy, slow at a skill" - 傻 is about lacking sense or being naive, 笨 is about lacking ability (笨手笨脚 clumsy hands and feet).
- 别傻了 (bié shǎ le) "stop being silly" is a common casual phrase.