不肯
bùkěn · HSK 7
Refuse
🐴 Sounds like buckin — refuses like a horse bucks its rider
不 means not, 肯 means willing. Together they form stubborn refusal — someone who flat-out will not agree.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.
肯 — flesh 月 (肉) + stop 止 above
Originally written with 肉 (flesh) under a form representing bone or meat clinging to bone, suggesting flesh attached firmly. The meaning extended from 'flesh on bone' to 'to be willing,' as in willingly clinging to or agreeing with something. Modern 肯 keeps the 月 (flesh) component below.