Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 蠢 | chǔn |
| 笨 | bèn |
In Chinese, words for 'dumb' vary depending on whether you are describing a lack of mental agility or a foolish action. 笨 is used to describe someone who is slow-witted or lacks mental agility. You can create the colloquial insult 笨蛋 (idiot/dummy) by adding the noun suffix 蛋 to 笨. 蠢 is used to describe actions or ideas that are foolish, absurd or nonsensical. Adding the suffix 货 to 蠢 creates the harsher, more derogatory term 蠢货 (fool/idiot).
Which one should you use?
笨 (bèn) is more common when describing someone as slow-witted or lacking mental agility. In contrast, 蠢 (chǔn) carries a stronger connotation of being 'foolish' or 'absurd' regarding one's actions or ideas.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, the phrase 冇大腦 means 'no brain' and is used to carry the connotation of being dumb.
How do you pronounce it?
chǔn
Did you know?
- The word 蠢 originally had nothing to do with intelligence, as its ancient semantic component refers to 'insects'.
- To make an insult more dehumanizing, one can add the suffix 货 to words like 蠢, effectively treating the person like a piece of merchandise or a commodity.
- In Chinese, calling someone a 笨蛋 literally translates to calling them a 'stupid egg'.
Examples in context
- 这是一个愚蠢的问题。That's a dumb question.This sentence shows how to use 蠢 to describe a question.Tatoeba #1808259 by sadhen, translation #3142734 by CK
- 我太愚蠢了…我竟然试着给你解释我自己都不懂的东西。I'm so dumb… I'm trying to explain things to you that I don't understand myself.This sentence shows how to use 蠢 to describe one's own actions.Tatoeba #334702 by fucongcong, translation #1497 by Zifre
- 你很愚蠢。You are dumb.This sentence shows how to use 蠢 to describe a person.Tatoeba #993698 by leoyzy, translation #10518999 by Adelpa
- 不要做愚蠢的事情。Don't do dumb things.
- 这是一个愚蠢的错误。This is a dumb mistake.
- 佢係冇大腦嘅He/she is dumb
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Jia Yi and Jun Jie are discussing a silly mistake made during a video game.
- 佳怡 Jiayi这个游戏的操作太蠢了。Zhège yóuxì de cāozuò tài chǔn le.The controls in this game are so dumb.
- 俊杰 Junjie我也觉得，真是太蠢了。Wǒ yě juéde, zhēnshi tài chǔn le.I think so too, it's really dumb.
- 佳怡 Jiayi你刚才的操作也很蠢。Nǐ gāngcái de cāozuò yě hěn chǔn.Your move just now was also dumb.
- 俊杰 Junjie好吧，我承认我刚才很蠢。Hǎo ba, wǒ chéngrèn wǒ gāngcái hěn chǔn.Okay, I admit I was being dumb just now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “dumb” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 笨, 蠢, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
