耍流氓

shuǎliúmáng

verb #30,294

Meanings

1 to behave like a hooligan
2 to make sexually inappropriate advances
3 to act with rascally behavior

Characters

to play; to act (a part)

to flow; drifting

vagrant; (in 流氓) hoodlum

Examples

他在公共场合耍流氓。

Tā zài gōnggòng chǎnghé shuǎ liúmáng.

He behaved like a hooligan in public.

再敢耍流氓我就报警了。

Zài gǎn shuǎ liúmáng wǒ jiù bàojǐng le.

If you act like a creep again, I'll call the police.

Tips

usage

Literally 'to play (the role of) a hooligan'. The verb 耍 attaches to a role-noun (耍赖 'to play the rogue', 耍滑头 'to act slick'). 耍流氓 commonly carries a sexual-harassment connotation, not just generic rowdiness.

register

Casual/colloquial. In serious legal/news writing, 性骚扰 (xìng sāorǎo, 'sexual harassment') is the formal term.

Stroke Order

耍 shuǎ

流 liú

氓 máng