拨弄

撥弄

bōnòng

verb #32,505

Meanings

1 to fiddle with; to move back and forth (with hand, foot, or stick)
2 to stir up (trouble, gossip, dissent)
3 to manipulate (people, behind the scenes)

Characters

to poke; to stir

to mess with; to handle

Examples

她无聊地拨弄着头发。

Tā wúliáo de bōnòng zhe tóufa.

She fiddled with her hair out of boredom.

不要听信他在背后拨弄是非。

Bú yào tīngxìn tā zài bèihòu bōnòng shìfēi.

Don't believe him stirring up gossip behind people's backs.

孩子用树枝拨弄着地上的蚂蚁。

Háizi yòng shùzhī bōnòng zhe dì shàng de mǎyǐ.

The child poked at the ants on the ground with a twig.

Tips

usage

Two distinct registers: (1) physical fiddling — playing with hair, prodding objects, plucking strings (拨弄琴弦 'pluck strings'); (2) figurative manipulation — 拨弄是非 ('stir up gossip / sow discord') is a very common collocation, always negative. Context disambiguates.

memory

拨 (poke / stir) + 弄 (mess with) — both characters carry the sense of touching something to change its state. Together they emphasize repeated, fiddling motion or meddling.

Stroke Order

拨 bō

弄 nòng