🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

耸肩

Pronunciation / Transliteration: sǒng jiān

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Shrugging/ˈʃrʌɡ.ɪŋ/
verbCEFR B1 (Intermediate)Top #1500 frequency
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🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"她在被问到时耸了耸肩。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To raise and lower the shoulders, often to indicate ignorance, indifference, or lack of concern.

    "When asked about the missing report, she simply shrugged, showing she didn't care."
  2. 2

    To express uncertainty or lack of knowledge by performing the gesture of shrugging.

    "He shrugged when asked if he would attend the meeting."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'shrug' originates from the Middle English 'shruggen', which is of uncertain origin but possibly related to the Old Norse 'skryggja', meaning to shake or to move. The evolution of the term reflects a gesture of indifference or lack of knowledge, which has been consistent through its historical usage.

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