Chinese word

老婆

Pronunciation

Pinyinlǎo pó

Meaning

  • nounwife

Example

我和老婆去逛街了。wǒ hé lǎo pó qù guàng jiē le

My wife and I went shopping.

Illustration for 老婆 (wife)

More examples

他经常对老婆很好。tā jīng cháng duì lǎo pó hěn hǎo

He is always kind to his wife.

Core concept

A warm, informal household term centered on one's wife and sometimes extended to a familiar older woman.

Common phrases

  • 和老婆去逛街hé lǎo pó qù guàng jiē

    go shopping with one's wife

  • 对老婆好duì lǎo pó hǎo

    treat one's wife well

  • 给老婆买礼物gěi lǎo pó mǎi lǐ wù

    buy a gift for one's wife

  • 跟老婆吵架gēn lǎo pó chǎo jià

    argue with one's wife

Similar words

妻qī: A neutral way to refer to a married woman in speech or writing.
太太tài tài: A polite spoken way to refer to a married woman.
夫人fū rén: A respectful and formal way to refer to a married woman in official settings or to others.

Definition in Chinese

口语中对已婚女性的称呼，通常指说话者自己的妻，也可用于称呼年长或熟识的妇女。kóu yǔ zhōng duì yǐ hūn nǚ xìng de chēng hū tōng cháng zhǐ shuō huà zhě zì jǐ de qī yě kě yòng yú chēng hū nián zhǎng huò shú shí de fù nǚ

Word origin

老婆 (lǎopó, "wife") combines 老 (lǎo, "old") and 婆 (pó, "woman, especially an older woman"), and the expression developed into a familiar colloquial term for one's wife.

Usage tips

  • For native English speakers, the literal-looking parts can suggest "old woman," but the word usually has a warm conversational sense and is not the best choice for a formal introduction.

Opposites

Word lists with this word