妒
Character Story & Explanation
妒 is widely used in classical and modern Chinese texts to condemn destructive interpersonal attitudes. It appears in the Confucian classic Xunzi (3rd c. BCE) criticizing '妒贤嫉能' (dù xián jí néng)—envying the virtuous and hating the capable—and remains common in contemporary idioms like 嫉贤妒能 (jí xián dù néng). News reports cite it in cases of workplace sabotage or online harassment rooted in resentment. It’s also embedded in psychological discourse, e.g., '病理性嫉妒' (pathological jealousy), where 妒 marks the clinical threshold.
The character’s form is not pictographic but phono-semantic: 女 (nǚ, 'woman') is the semantic radical indicating domain (traditionally associated with emotional volatility in premodern texts), and 户 (hù, 'door') serves as the phonetic component—though pronunciation diverged over time (hù → dù). No oracle bone or bronze script form survives; earliest attestation is in Warring States bamboo slips (c. 4th–3rd c. BCE), confirming its long-standing lexical role.
The Chinese character 妒 (dù) expresses the complex, often socially charged emotion of envy—specifically the resentment or discomfort felt when others possess advantages like beauty, success, or favor. Unlike neutral English 'envy', 妒 carries a distinctly negative moral valence in classical and modern usage, frequently implying pettiness, jealousy-driven behavior, or even malicious intent. Its association with the 女 (nǚ, 'female') radical reflects historical gendered stereotypes—Confucian texts and Ming-Qing fiction often depicted women’s jealousy as disruptive to family harmony.
Western equivalents like 'jealousy' or 'envy' lack this built-in ethical judgment in everyday use: 'I’m envious of your vacation' can be benign, whereas saying '她很妒' (tā hěn dù) almost always signals disapproval. Greek *phthonos* and Latin *invidia* come closer—both denoting morally condemned envy—but these are largely archaic or literary. Modern English lacks a single word with 妒’s consistent pejorative weight and cultural resonance.
In Chinese discourse, 妒 functions not just psychologically but socially: it appears in legal-adjacent contexts (e.g., '妒忌报复'—retaliation out of envy), moral education, and workplace ethics training. The HSK 6 placement reflects its nuanced usage—rare in casual speech but essential for understanding literature, media criticism, and formal writing. Mastery requires grasping its collocational constraints: it pairs with nouns ('妒火', '妒意') or verbs ('妒贤嫉能'), rarely stands alone, and almost never appears in positive constructions.
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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