侩 (kuài) · middleman, broker, go-between

Meanings

1 middleman
2 broker
3 go-between

Characters

侩

kuài

broker, middleman

Examples

HSK 3

他是一个老市侩。

Tā shì yí ge lǎo shì kuài.

He's an old wheeler-dealer.

HSK 4

市侩气太重让人讨厌。

Shì kuài qì tài zhòng ràng rén tǎoyàn.

Too much of a money-grubbing manner is off-putting.

Tips

usage

侩 almost never appears alone - it lives inside the compound 市侩 (shìkuài, 'small-time profiteer / money-grubber'), which carries strong contempt. The character originally meant a neutral 'broker' or middleman matching buyers and sellers, but the modern sense skews entirely negative. Compare 市侩气 ('that sleazy, mercenary air').

memory

The simplified form 侩 has 亻 (person) + 会 ('meet, gather'); the traditional 儈 has 亻 + 會. A 'person who brings people together' = a broker. The disparaging spin came later.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical form of 人)

Two-stroke person radical on the left, side form of 人. 侩 means a broker or middleman - the person who joins buyer and seller in a trade. The radical confirms it as a person-occupation char, alongside 仆 servant, 俗 commoner, 伶 entertainer, 仙 immortal.

phonetic

会 huì

to meet; to gather

Right side 会 supplies the sound - huì shifting to kuài via a historical alternation, preserved in the kuài reading of 会 in 会计 accounting. The original meaning of 会 - meeting - also doubles as a semantic hint: a broker brings two parties together.