戏耍

戲耍

xìshuǎ

verb #32,033

Meanings

1 to tease; to make fun of
2 to play with; to toy with
3 to amuse oneself

Characters

to play; to toy with

Examples

你别拿我戏耍，我可不是好欺负的。

Nǐ bié ná wǒ xìshuǎ, wǒ kě bú shì hǎo qīfu de.

Don't toy with me — I'm not so easy to push around.

孩子们在院子里戏耍。

Háizi men zài yuànzi lǐ xìshuǎ.

The children are playing around in the courtyard.

Tips

usage

Two flavors: (1) playful "frolic" — kids playing, used neutrally; (2) malicious "toy with / make a fool of" — when someone is the deliberate target. Sense (2) is the more common one in modern Chinese, often paired with 拿 (nǐ bié 拿我戏耍 "don't make me your plaything"). Stronger than 开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào, "joke around").

Stroke Order

戏 xì

耍 shuǎ