kàn bu qǐ
look down upon; scorn; disdain
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他看不起那些穷人。
Tā kànbuqǐ nàxiē qióngrén.
He looks down on those poor people.
她看不起那些没有文化的人。
Tā kànbuqǐ nàxiē méiyǒu wénhuà de rén.
She looks down on those people who are not educated.
他们看不起那些没有钱的人。
Tāmen kànbuqǐ nàxiē méiyǒu qián de rén.
They look down on those people who have no money.
瞧不起 (qiáo bù qǐ)
look down on
小看 (xiǎo kàn)
underestimate
看得起 (kàn de qǐ)
look up to
尊重 (zūn zhòng)
respect
The Chinese word 看不起 (kàn bù qǐ) is a compound verb that literally means "to look down on" or "to despise". It is composed of the verb 看 (kàn), which means "to look" or "to see", and the preposition 不起 (bù qǐ), which means "not to rise" or "not to stand up". The original meaning of 看不起 was to look down on someone or something from a higher position, both physically and metaphorically. Over time, the meaning of the word has evolved to include a sense of contempt or disdain, and it is now commonly used to express feelings of superiority or disrespect towards someone or something.
