虚伪
xū wěi · HSK 7
hypocritical
🎭 虚 hollow/empty + 伪 fake = an empty fakeness, i.e. two-faced and hypocritical
虚 means empty or hollow (as in 虚空, void) and 伪 means fake or forged (as in 伪造, to forge). Stack them and you get a person whose warmth is hollow and counterfeit: false, hypocritical, sham.
虚 — tiger radical 虍 + hill 丘 (now 业)
Originally depicted a large mound or hill where tigers (虍) roamed, written with 虍 over 丘. Because such high places were often deserted, the meaning shifted from 'big hill' to 'empty, void, vacant,' and by extension 'unreal' or 'humble.' The bottom 丘 was later simplified to 业.