Meaning of 看不起
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to look down upon
- to despise
How to use 看不起
看不起 is a common verb for showing contempt or not respecting someone or something. It takes a direct object, usually a person. Example: 别看不起穷人。(Bié kànbuqǐ qióngrén.) Don't look down on poor people.
看 (kàn) means to look, and 起 (qǐ) means to rise up. If you 看不起 someone, your eyes cannot rise up to them, so you only look down on them.
Common mistake: Learners often read 不 with a full fourth tone, but in 看不起 it is light and neutral: kàn bu qǐ. Also, it does not mean "can't see clearly". That idea is 看不清 (kàn bu qīng).
看不起 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
看 kàn · to see · 9 strokes
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- 9
不 bù · no · 4 strokes
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起 qǐ · to rise · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 看不起.
| 一起 | yīqǐ | (in) the same place; together; in company (with) |
| 看到 | kàndào | to see |
| 起来 | qǐlái | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 是不是 | shì bu shì | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) |
| 不用 | bùyòng | need not |
| 看见 | kànjiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 好看 | hǎokàn | good-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good |
| 起床 | qǐchuáng | to get out of bed; to get up |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 看病 | kànbìng | to visit a doctor; to see a patient |
| 不对 | bùduì | incorrect; wrong |
Questions about 看不起
What does 看不起 mean?
看不起 (kànbuqǐ) means "to look down upon; to despise" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 看不起?
看不起 is made of 3 characters: 看 (9 strokes), 不 (4 strokes), 起 (10 strokes). That is 23 strokes in total.
Is 看不起 an HSK word?
Yes. 看不起 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the opposite of 看不起?
The opposite is 看得起 (kàndeqǐ), meaning to think highly of or respect someone. It often appears in polite phrases like 谢谢你看得起我 (xièxie nǐ kàndeqǐ wǒ), thank you for thinking well of me.
Can 看不起 be used about yourself or about things?
Yes. 看不起自己 (kànbuqǐ zìjǐ) means to have low self-esteem. You can also look down on things, such as 看不起这份工作 (kànbuqǐ zhè fèn gōngzuò), to look down on this job.