扮 (bàn): to disguise oneself as, to dress up, to play (a role)
扮 (bàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to disguise oneself as.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 分 (phonetic). It ranks #1947 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 扮 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to disguise oneself as
- to dress up
- to play (a role)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 扮 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 扮
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 装扮 | zhuāng bàn | to decorate |
| 假扮 | jiǎ bàn | to impersonate |
| 扮相 | bàn xiàng | stage costume |
| 乔装打扮 | qiáo zhuāng dǎ bàn | to dress up in disguise (idiom) |
| 扮装 | bàn zhuāng | to dress up and make up (like an actor) |
| 扮家家酒 | bàn jiā jiā jiǔ | to play house (Tw) |
| 穿着打扮 | chuān zhuó dǎ bàn | style of dress |
| 男扮女装 | nán bàn nǚ zhuāng | (of a man) to dress as a woman (idiom) |
| 女扮男装 | nǚ bàn nán zhuāng | (of a woman) to dress as a man (idiom) |
| 扮装皇后 | bàn zhuāng huáng hòu | drag queen |
| 角色扮演游戏 | jué sè bàn yǎn yóu xì | role-playing game (RPG) |
| 短打扮 | duǎn dǎ ban | clothing that exposes the arms and legs (e.g. shorts, sleeveless top) |
| 扮猪吃老虎 | bàn zhū chī lǎo hǔ | to play the wolf in sheep's clothing |
| 扮酷 | bàn kù | to act cool |
| 妆扮 | zhuāng bàn | variant of 裝扮|装扮[zhuang1 ban4] |
扮 appears in 17 compound words: 41 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 18 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 扮 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
他扮起袖子，开始认真地打扫房间。
tā bàn qǐ xiù zǐ , kāi shǐ rèn zhēn dì dǎ sǎo fáng jiān .
He rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning the room thoroughly.
黄顺舸:人民与施政者桥梁 媒体扮演举足轻重角色
huáng shùn 舸 : rén mín yǔ shī zhèng zhě qiáo liáng méi tǐ bàn yǎn jǔ zú qīng chóng jiǎo sè
Huang Shunge: A bridge between the people and the rulers The media plays a pivotal role
广西融安苗族民众扮“芒蒿”送福闹新春
guǎng xī róng ān miáo zú mín zhòng bàn máng 蒿 sòng fú nào xīn chūn
The Miao people of Rong'an, Guangxi, dressed up as "Mangmu" to send blessings for the New Year
与亲戚饮茶遭爸爸叫扮争埋单!港男不慎争赢焗畀$1,560 呻...
yǔ qīn qī yǐn chá zāo bà bà jiào bàn zhēng mái dān ! gǎng nán bù shèn zhēng yíng 焗 畀 1 , 5 6 0 shēn . . .
Drinking tea with relatives was called by Dad to pretend to pay the bill! Hong Kong man accidentally won and baked $1,560 groaning...
湖南一社区扮“财神”上门送政策 助力企业“开门红”
hú nán yī shè qū bàn cái shén shàng mén sòng zhèng cè zhù lì qǐ yè kāi mén hóng
A community in Hunan pretended to be the "God of Wealth" to deliver policies to help enterprises get off to a good start
点亮中国红!英国地标伦敦眼披上中国春节装扮
diǎn liàng zhōng guó hóng ! yīng guó dì biāo lún dūn yǎn pī shàng zhōng guó chūn jié zhuāng bàn
Light up Chinese red! The British landmark London Eye is dressed up in Chinese New Year costumes
她打扮得妖里妖气，一副傻样！
Tā dǎban de yāoli-yāoqì, yī fù shǎ yàng!
She dresses so outrageously; it looks completely ridiculous!
他扮演哈姆雷特的角色。
Tā bànyǎn Hāmǔléitè de juésè.
He played the part of Hamlet.
女性永远只能扮演次要角色吗？
Nǚxìng yǒngyuǎn zhǐnéng bànyǎn cìyào juésè ma?
Must the woman always play the secondary role?
她很会打扮，所以不管穿上什么都合适。
Tā hěn huì dǎban, suǒyǐ bù guǎn chuānshang shénme dōu héshì.
She has good style, so she looks good in anything she wears.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 扮 (bàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 扮 and 下?
How many strokes does 扮 have?
What is the radical of 扮?
What are the components of 扮?
What are common words containing 扮?
What characters sound the same as 扮 (bàn)?
Is 扮 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 扮 with real-time feedback
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