caan4 jan2殘忍残忍
Jyutpingcaan4 jan2
Yalechàahn yán
Definition
Cruel, brutal, or inhumane; relentlessly causing great pain to people or animals.
colloquialdescriptionsemotion
How it's used
Focuses on the active infliction of suffering rather than just a lack of empathy. It is frequently used to describe actions that violate basic moral standards or cause unnecessary pain to living beings. While it can describe people, it is more commonly used to characterize specific behaviors or events as inhumane.
Examples
He treats the cat so badly, it is really cruel.
Why would you do something so cruel?
Related words
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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Classifier
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Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
