How to say “embarrassed” in Chinese

不好意思

bùhǎoyìsi

embarrassed; excuse me

expression · HSK 2 · topic “Leisure and health”

“Embarrassed” in Chinese is 不好意思, bù hǎo yì si: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

不好意思 is read bù hǎo yì si: 4 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

bù — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

hǎo — 3rd tonelow, dipping and rising a little

yì — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

si — neutral toneshort and unstressed

How to write it

不

bù — not, no

Before a fourth tone it is read bú: 不是 bú shì.

好

hǎo — good, well

女 “woman” and 子 “child” side by side: “good”.

意

yì — idea, meaning

Below, 心 “heart”.

思

sī — think

It also has the “heart” 心. In 意思 it is read with the neutral tone.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “不好意思”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 不好意思. Tap the sound icon to listen.

不好意思我来晚了bùhǎoyìsi,wǒláiwǎnleSorry, I'm late.

More words from the lesson “Interesting or boring”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “embarrassed” in Chinese?

“Embarrassed” in Chinese is 不好意思, pinyin bù hǎoyìsi.

What does 不好意思 mean?

不好意思 (bù hǎoyìsi) means “embarrassed; excuse me”.

How do you write 不好意思?

不好意思 is 4 characters: 不 (bù) — not, no; 好 (hǎo) — good, well; 意 (yì) — idea, meaning; 思 (sī) — think. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 不好意思?

不好意思 is read bù hǎoyìsi. Tones: bù — fourth tone, hǎo — third tone, yì — fourth tone, si — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“embarrassed” in the lesson “Interesting or boring”

This word is from the topic “Leisure and health” of HSK 2. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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