zéi

thief; robber

(bound form) traitor; subversive; (bound form) evil; wicked; sly; shifty; devious; (literary) to harm; to injure; (coll.) extremely; insanely; damn (common in NE China and Taiwan)

weapons (戎) + valuables (贝) = thief who takes by force

戎 means weapons or arms, and it carries the core idea here: someone who uses arms to take by force. 贝 originally meant shell-money or valuables, lending the sound zéi and hinting at what is stolen.

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WeaponsSemantic
Shell-moneyPhonetic

他的眼神很,让人觉得不放心。

tā de yǎn shén hěn zéi,ràng rén juéde bù fàng xīn。

His eyes are very shifty, making people feel uneasy.

那个趁夜偷走了店里的钱。

nà ge zéi chèn yè tōu zǒu le diàn lǐ de qián。

That thief took advantage of the night to steal the money from the shop.

Words with 贼

长尾贼鸥

cháng wěi zéi ōu

(bird species of China) long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)

关门捉贼

guān mén zhuō zéi

to catch a thief by closing his escape route (idiom)

鸡贼

jī zéi

(dialect) stingy

贼秃

zéi tū

(derog.) Buddhist monk

贼窝

zéi wō

thieves' lair

飞贼

fēi zéi

cat burglar

马贼

mǎ zéi

horse thief

闹贼

nào zéi

(coll.) to be burglarized

麦氏贼鸥

mài shì zéi ōu

(bird species of China) South Polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki)

上贼船

shàng zéi chuán

lit. to board a pirate ship (idiom)

不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记

bù pà zéi tōu jiù pà zéi diàn jì

much worse than having something stolen is when a thief has you in his sights (idiom)

中贼鸥

zhōng zéi ōu

(bird species of China) pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)

More characters with 贝