反
fǎn
contrary
in reverse; inside out or upside down; to reverse; to return; to oppose; opposite; against; anti-; to rebel; to use analogy; instead; abbr. for 反切[fan3 qie4] phonetic system
cliff (厂) + hand reaching back (又) = to reverse or go against
The hand (又) reaches back under a cliff or overhang (厂), grasping from the opposite side — the gesture of flipping or reversing. This physical image of a hand going against or underneath something became the concept of opposition and reversal.
他把衣服穿反了，大家都笑了。
tā bǎ yī fu chuān fǎn le , dà jiā dōu xiào le 。
He put his clothes on inside out, and everyone laughed.
你越催他，他反而越慢。
nǐ yuè cuī tā , tā fǎn ér yuè màn 。
The more you rush him, the slower he gets instead.
Words with 反
反串
fǎn chuàn
(modern) to play a transvestite role
反对
fǎn duì
to oppose; to be against; to object to
反向
fǎn xiàng
opposite direction
反而
fǎn ér
on the contrary; instead
反舰导弹
fǎn jiàn dǎo dàn
anti-ship missile
反复无常
fǎn fù wú cháng
unstable
核反应堆
hé fǎn yìng duī
nuclear reactor
反手
fǎn shǒu
to turn a hand over
肃反
sù fǎn
to eliminate counterrevolutionaries (abbr. for 肅清反革命分子|肃清反革命分子[su4 qing1 fan3 ge2 ming4 fen4 zi3])
反对派
fǎn duì pài
opposition faction
反客为主
fǎn kè wéi zhǔ
lit. the guest acts as host (idiom); fig. to turn from passive to active behavior
反物质
fǎn wù zhì
antimatter