杠精

槓精

gàngjīng

noun

Measure Word

一个杠精 gè

Meanings

1 contrarian
2 someone who argues for the sake of arguing
3 devil's advocate (negative)

Characters

to argue; to be contrarian (slang)

spirit; expert; master of

Literally 'arguing spirit/expert' — someone who has elevated being contrarian to an art form.

Examples

别理他，他就是个杠精。

Bié lǐ tā, tā jiùshì gè gàngjīng.

Ignore him — he's just a contrarian.

评论区总有杠精带节奏。

Pínglùn qū zǒng yǒu gàngjīng dài jiézòu.

There are always contrarians in the comments stirring things up.

Tips

culture

Selected as one of China's top internet buzzwords in 2018. The '-精' suffix pattern is productive slang: 戏精 (drama queen), 杠精 (contrarian), 柠檬精 (jealous person). It implies someone who is obsessively good at the negative trait.

usage

Always negative. Unlike 'playing devil's advocate,' being a 杠精 has no intellectual merit — it's purely about nitpicking and derailing conversations.

Stroke Order

杠 gàng

精 jīng