biǎo
noun #28,274 vulgar

Meanings

  1. 1 prostitute
  2. 2 whore

Examples

HSK 5
Tā mà rén yòng le hěn nántīng de huà, bāokuò zhège zì.
He used very offensive language when cursing, including this word.

Tips

register
is vulgar and offensive. It most commonly appears in the compound 婊子 (prostitute/whore) or slang phrases. Avoid in formal contexts. The character alone is rarely used in polite speech.

Components

radical
woman; female
Left is the woman radical - a kneeling figure with arms crossed. Indexing radical of , marking it as a female-directed term. Same female-family chars cover everything from mother and elder sister to derogatory slave and jealous; the radical is morally neutral, but the right-side phonetic decides whether the word praises or insults.
phonetic
biǎo
outside; surface; show
Right supplies the sound - biǎo straight through, no drift. The 'outside / surface' meaning of (clothing worn outside) doesn't enter directly, but the phonetic was chosen for a female-related slur that became 婊子 'whore / bitch.' This is a crude insult in modern Mandarin; pair it carefully. Same phonetic: itself, only.

Stroke Order

biǎo