耍宝

耍寶

shuǎbǎo

verb

Meanings

1 to clown around
2 to ham it up
3 to show off in a goofy way to amuse others

Characters

to play; perform

treasure; cute thing

Examples

他特别爱在朋友面前耍宝。

Tā tèbié ài zài péngyou miànqián shuǎbǎo.

He loves clowning around in front of his friends.

孩子一耍宝，全家都笑了。

Háizi yī shuǎbǎo, quán jiā dōu xiào le.

The moment the child started hamming it up, the whole family laughed.

Tips

register

Colloquial, especially common in Taiwan Mandarin and entertainment writing. 耍 (shuǎ) = to play / mess around; 宝 (bǎo) here means 'treasure / cute thing' — together: 'to play the cute fool'.

Stroke Order

耍 shuǎ

宝 bǎo