反感
fǎn gǎn · HSK 7
to dislike
🤢👎 反 (reverse) + 感 (feeling) = a feeling turned against something
When your感 (feeling) goes 反 (in reverse), it flips from neutral to hostile — thats antipathy. FǍN sounds like fan blowing back, GǍN like gut — your gut reaction pushes back.
反 — hand 又 under cliff 厂
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) turning something over against a cliff or slope (厂), depicting the action of flipping or reversing. From this came the core meaning 'to turn over,' which extended to 'opposite,' 'contrary,' and 'rebel against.' The character is purely semantic, with no phonetic component.
感 — heart 心 + 咸 (xián, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning of feeling or emotion, while 咸 supplies the sound. Together 感 conveys being moved in the heart, hence 'to feel,' 'sense,' or 'be affected by' something.