Dictionary › 敷衍

敷衍

fū yǎn

HSK 6 2-character word

What 敷衍 means

1. to elaborate (on a theme)
2. to expound (the classics)
3. perfunctory
4. to skimp
5. to botch
6. to do sth half-heartedly or just for show
7. barely enough to get by

The characters in 敷衍

• 敷fūto spread; to lay out; to apply (powder, ointment etc)
• 衍yǎnto spread out; to develop; to overflow

Words starting with 敷衍

• 敷衍了事fū yǎn liǎo shì(idiom) to do things half-heartedly; to merely go through the motions
• 敷衍塞责fū yǎn sè zé(idiom) to skimp on the job; to work half-heartedly; not to take the job seriously

Sounds the same

Read fū yǎn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 敷演variant of 敷衍; to elaborate (on a theme); to expound (the meaning of the classics)