Dictionary › 矛盾

矛盾

máo dùn

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 level 5 2-character word Measure word 个

矛盾 (máo dùn) means "contradiction". It is an HSK 3.0 level 5 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 矛盾 means

1. contradiction
2. conflicting views
3. contradictory

The characters in 矛盾

• 矛máospear; lance; pike
• 盾dùnshield; (currency) Vietnamese dong; currency unit of several countries…

Example sentences

• 你在自相矛盾。
  Nǐ zài zìxiāngmáodùn.
  You're contradicting yourself.
• 他们有时候有矛盾冲突
  Tāmen yǒushíhou yǒu máodùn chōngtū
  Every now and then they clash over their differences.
• 希望与现实之间的矛盾，因何而起？
  From what stems this contradiction between our hopes and our reality?
• 他和老板有矛盾，这个我们知道就好。
  Tā hé lǎobǎn yǒu máodùn, zhège wǒmen zhīdào jiù hǎo.
  Between you and me, he's in trouble with the boss.
• 我不能禁止一个人娶好几个妻子，因为这与圣经不矛盾。
  Wǒ bù néng jìnzhǐ yīgèrén qǔ hǎojǐ gè qīzi, yīnwèi zhè yǔ Shèngjīng bù máodùn.
  I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture.
• 最光明的处世方法是既蔑视社会的因袭，又过着与社会的因袭不相矛盾的生活。
  Zuì guāngmíng de chǔshì fāngfǎ shì jì mièshì shèhuì de yīnxí, yòu guo zhe yǔ shèhuì de yīnxí bù xiāng máodùn de shēnghuó.
  The most enlightened way of living is to despise social conventions while at the same time living your life in conformity to them.

Words containing 矛盾

• 自相矛盾zì xiāng máo dùnto contradict oneself; self-contradictory; inconsistent
• 闹矛盾nào máo dùnto be at loggerheads; to have a falling out
• 内部矛盾nèi bù máo dùninternal contradiction
• 敌我矛盾dí wǒ máo dùncontradictions between ourselves and the enemy; Either you are for us or against us.
• 人民内部矛盾rén mín nèi bù máo dùninternal contradiction among the people (pretext for a purge)
• 陆港矛盾Lù Gǎng máo dùntensions between mainland China and Hong Kong (since 1997)

Sounds the same

Read máo dùn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 茅盾Mao Dun (1896-1981), Chinese novelist

Where 矛盾 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Evaluation, Faults & Criticism (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read máo dùn correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.