惩 (chéng): to punish, to reprimand, to warn
惩 (chéng) is a Chinese character meaning “to punish.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 征 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #1804 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 惩 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- to punish
- to reprimand
- to warn
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 惩
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 惩戒 | chéng jiè | to discipline |
| 严惩 | yán chéng | to punish severely |
| 惩罚性 | chéng fá xìng | punitive |
| 惩治 | chéng zhì | to punish |
| 惩处 | chéng chǔ | to punish |
| 惩办 | chéng bàn | to punish (someone) |
| 严惩不贷 | yán chéng bù dài | to punish severely (idiom) |
| 从严惩处 | cóng yán chéng chǔ | to deal with sb severely (idiom) |
| 惩一警百 | chéng yī jǐng bǎi | lit. punish one, warn one hundred (idiom) |
| 重惩 | zhòng chéng | to punish severely |
| 惩前毖后 | chéng qián bì hòu | lit. to punish those before to prevent those after (idiom) |
| 惩一儆百 | chéng yī jǐng bǎi | lit. punish one to warn one hundred (idiom) |
| 惩恶扬善 | chéng è yáng shàn | to uphold virtue and condemn evil (idiom) |
| 小惩大诫 | xiǎo chéng dà jiè | lit. to punish a little to prevent a lot (idiom) |
| 惩恶劝善 | chéng è quàn shàn | see 懲惡揚善|惩恶扬善[cheng2 e4 yang2 shan4] |
惩 appears in 18 compound words: 61 as the first character, 17 as the last, and 22 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 惩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
lit. to punish a little to prevent a lot (idiom); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent large scale repetition
Example Sentences
看到孩子的进步,父母惩中十分欣慰。
kàn dào hái zǐ de jìn bù , fù mǔ chéng zhōng shí fēn xīn wèi .
Seeing their child's progress, the parents were deeply gratified.
军人网路赌博不起诉 却被惩处2大过翻案吞败
jūn rén wǎng lù dǔ bó bù qǐ sù què bèi chéng chǔ 2 dà guò fān àn tūn bài
Soldier Not Charged for Online Gambling, but Receives Two Major Disciplinary Penalties; Appeal Rejected
...对多国目标发动攻击 CNN:不惜一切代价惩罚美国
. . . duì duō guó mù biāo fā dòng gōng jī C N N : bù xī yī qiē dài jià chéng fá měi guó
... Attacks on multinational targets CNN: Punish the United States at all costs
...频传...民团批主管机关监督失灵 吁分级惩戒
. . . pín chuán . . . mín tuán pī zhǔ guǎn jī guān jiān dū shī líng xū fēn jí chéng jiè
... Frequent transmission... The militia criticized the competent authority for failing to supervise and called for graded punishment
...医偷拍未成年病患私密照遭起诉 妇团吁建立惩戒指引、预警机制
. . . yī tōu pāi wèi chéng nián bìng huàn sī mì zhào zāo qǐ sù fù tuán xū jiàn lì chéng jiè zhǐ yǐn , yù jǐng jī zhì
... The doctor was prosecuted for secretly taking intimate photos of underage patients, and the women's group called for the establishment of a punishment ring and early warning mechanism
蒋万安“育儿减工时计画”挨批惩罚单身狗 劳动局:有歧视都可来申诉
蒋 wàn ān yù ér jiǎn gōng shí jì huà āi pī chéng fá dān shēn gǒu láo dòng jú : yǒu qí shì dōu kě lái shēn sù
Jiang Wan'an's "Childcare Hour Reduction Plan" was criticized for punishing single dogs Labor Bureau: If there is discrimination, you can come to complain
触犯法律的人受到惩罚。
Chùfàn fǎlǜ de rén shòudào chéngfá.
People who break the law are punished.
您为什么惩罚他们?
Nín wèishénme chéngfá tāmen?
What are you punishing them for?
要是我们做了同样的事,我们将会受到惩罚。
Yàoshi wǒmen zuò le tóngyàng de shì, wǒmen jiānghuì shòudào chéngfá.
Were we to do such a thing, we should be punished.
如果你违反了法律, 你将受到惩罚。
Rúguǒ nǐ wéifǎn le fǎlǜ, nǐ jiāng shòudào chéngfá.
You'll be punished if you break the law.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 惩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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