嫌 (xián): to dislike; to mind; to complai…

Meanings

1 to dislike; to mind; to complain about
2 to suspect; suspicion

Characters

嫌

xian

to dislike; to suspect

Examples

她嫌这件衣服太贵了。

Tā xián zhè jiàn yīfu tài guì le.

She thinks this piece of clothing is too expensive.

别嫌麻烦。

Bié xián máfan.

Don't mind the trouble.

他被列为嫌疑人。

Tā bèi lièwéi xiányírén.

He was listed as a suspect.

我不嫌远，愿意走过去。

Wǒ bù xián yuǎn, yuànyì zǒuguò qù.

I don't mind the distance; I'm willing to walk there.

Tips

usage

嫌 as 'to dislike' takes a complement: 嫌贵 (think it's too expensive), 嫌远 (mind the distance), 嫌麻烦 (find it troublesome). As 'suspicion': 嫌疑 (xiányí, suspicion), 嫌疑人 (suspect).

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman

Woman radical on the left — historically the indexing radical for many emotion and relationship verbs (妒 jealous, 嫉 envy, 妨 hinder, 嫌 dislike). Whether this reflects ancient bias or simply graphic convention, 女 here functions as a radical with weak semantic load; the resentment lives in the right side.

phonetic

兼 jiān

combine; double

Right side 兼 supplies the sound (jiān → xián with palatal drift) and a faint nuance of holding two things at once — fitting suspicion, which weighs guilt against innocence. 兼 itself depicts a hand grasping two stalks of grain. Same phonetic family: 谦 qiān modest, 廉 lián honest, 镰 lián sickle, 歉 qiàn apology.