HSK 6 · Society

贪污 tānwū “to embezzle” in Chinese

Traditional 貪污

What 贪污 means

  1. to embezzle
  2. corruption
  3. to be corrupt

How to say 贪污

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale贪tān1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale污wū1st tone, high and level

贪污 in a sentence

  1. 他因为贪污公款被公司开除了。

    Tā yīnwèi tānwū gōngkuǎn bèi gōngsī kāichú le.

    He was sacked by the company for embezzling funds.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 贪污是一种严重的违法行为。

    Tānwū shì yì zhǒng yánzhòng de wéifǎ xíngwéi.

    Embezzlement is a serious crime.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 贪污 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 贪 (tān) with each of its parts in a different colour
贪tānto have a voracious desire for
  • 今modern · jīnSound part
  • 贝sea shell · bèiMeaning part

贝 hints at the meaning (sea shell); 今 (jīn) hints at the sound. Compare it with tān.

The character 污 (wū) with each of its parts in a different colour
污wūdirty
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 亏to lose · kuīSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 亏 (kuī) hints at the sound. Compare it with wū.

How to write 贪污

贪 8 strokes · 污 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

贪污 (tānwū) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 贪污 (tānwū). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 贪污

Words with 贪

贪婪tānlán · greedy

Words with 污

污染wūrǎn · to pollute污蔑wūmiè · to slander

More words: Society & Law

失踪shīzōng · to go missing司法sīfǎ · judicial司令sīlìng · commander诉讼sùsòng · lawsuit调解tiáojiě · to mediate条款tiáokuǎn · clause条约tiáoyuē · treaty通缉tōngjī · to put on the wanted list

FAQs

贪污 (tānwū) means “to embezzle” or “corruption”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it tānwū: tān with a 1st tone, then wū with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 贪污 is written 貪污. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tanwu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 贪污 from the suggestions. Typing tanwu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
贪污 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.