suì
noun #73,305

Meanings

  1. 1 evil influence; ghostly mischief
  2. 2 shady scheme; underhanded action

Examples

HSK 5
Liǎng gè rén zài wàimiàn guǐguǐ-suìsuì de.
Two men were sneaking around outside, acting suspiciously.
HSK 7-9
Yuánlái shì tā zài ànzhōng zuòsuì.
It turned out he was the one secretly stirring up trouble.

Tips

usage
Common in 鬼鬼祟祟 (sneaky, furtive) and 作祟, which originally meant a ghost causing harm and now means some hidden factor secretly causing trouble.

Components

radical
shì
altar; spirits
at the bottom is the spirit radical, originally an altar. It links the character to gods and ghosts: a ghost emerging is the source of the curse.
semantic
chū
to come out
(to come out) sits on top. The character pictures a spirit coming out to make mischief, so this part supplies the action.

Stroke Order

suì