徘

pái
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to pace back and forth; to wander irresolutely

Examples

HSK 7-9
他在门口徘徊,拿不定主意。
Tā zài ménkǒu páihuái, ná bú dìng zhǔyi.
He paced back and forth at the door, unable to decide.
HSK 7-9
Gǔjià yìzhí zài shí yuán fùjìn páihuái.
The stock price has been hovering around ten yuan.

Tips

usage
Bound character: it lives in 徘徊 (to pace, hover, waver). Beyond literal pacing it also means hovering around a value or wavering between choices. Learn it as the word, not the single 徘.

Components

radical
彳 chì
step; to walk (left-side form)
Left-side step radical 彳, half of 行 (to walk). It marks 徘 as a kind of walking - here, pacing to and fro.
phonetic
非 fēi
not; wrong
Right side 非 supplies the sound (fēi shifting to pái). Its two opposed halves also faintly echo stepping one way then the other, which is what pacing is.

Stroke Order

徘 pái