HSK 5

看不起 (kàn bu qǐ) — how to say "to look down upon" in Chinese

看不起

To look down upon, to despise

verb

Character composition

看

to look

不

not

起

to rise

Radicals / Keys

目

Eye

#109 · mù · 5 strokes

一

One

#1 · yī · 1 stroke

走

Run

#156 · zǒu · 7 strokes

Synonyms

Collocations

看不起穷人

kànbuqǐ qióngrén

despise the poor

看不起别人

kànbuqǐ biérén

look down on others

Examples

真正的朋友不会因为你的失败或者贫穷就看不起你。

True friends won't look down on you because of your failures or poverty.

别看不起人。

Don't look down on people.

Writing

Frequently asked questions

Look down upon in Chinese

"to look down upon" in Chinese is 看不起 (kàn bu qǐ).

What does 看不起 mean in English?

看不起 (kàn bu qǐ) means "To look down upon, to despise".

How is 看不起 pronounced?

It is pronounced kàn bu qǐ (written as kan bu qi, kanbuqi). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.

How do you write "to look down upon" in Chinese characters?

It is written 看不起: 看 has 9 strokes, 不 has 4 strokes, 起 has 10 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.

What HSK level is 看不起?

看不起 belongs to the HSK 5 vocabulary list.

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