怎 么 着

zěn me zhāodictionary entry

what? / how? / how about? / whatever / also pr. [zěn me zhe]

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-eb4127e0cad060be. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

怎麼著怎么着 [zen3 me5 zhao1] /what?/how?/how about?/whatever/also pr. [zen3 me5 zhe5]/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 怎麼著

怎
zěn
how
么
yāo
youngest / most junior / tiny / one (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers, esp. on telephone or in military) / one or ace on dice or dominoes / variant of 吆[yāo], to shout
má
exclamatory final particle
ma
interrogative final particle
me
suffix, used to form interrogative 什麼|什么[shén me], what?, indefinite 這麼|这么[zhè me] thus, etc
Yāo
surname Yao
着
zhāo
a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuó]) / trick / tactic / (dialect) okay / all right / (dialect) to put in / to add
zháo
to touch / to come in contact with / to feel / to be affected by / to catch fire / to burn / (coll.) to fall asleep / (after a verb) hitting the mark / succeeding in
zhe
aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state
zhuó
to wear (clothes) / to contact / to use / to apply

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.