团伙

• Pinyin: tuán huǒ
• Hanzi breakdown: 团 = 囗 (enclosure) + 才 (talent, phonetic, simplified); 伙 = 亻 (person) + 火 (fire)

Meaning

Gang; criminal group; ring. An organized group of people engaged in illegal activities.

Primarily used in legal and news contexts to describe organized criminal groups. Often appears in compound phrases like 犯罪团伙 (criminal gang), 诈骗团伙 (fraud ring). Carries a strongly negative connotation implying coordinated illegal activity.

Examples

1. 警方经过三个月的侦查，终于捣毁了这个电信诈骗团伙。 After three months of investigation, the police finally dismantled this telecommunications fraud ring.
2. 这个走私团伙的头目已经潜逃出境。 The leader of this smuggling gang has already fled the country.
3. 检察官指控该团伙成员犯有组织犯罪罪。 The prosecutor charged the gang members with organized crime.

Usage Guide

Context: legal, news, law enforcement

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 警方正在追查这个贩毒团伙的上线。(Police are tracking down this drug trafficking gang's supplier.)
• 该犯罪团伙已被依法起诉。(The criminal gang has been prosecuted according to law.)

Don't Say

• 把朋友群体叫做'团伙' (Don't call a friend group 团伙 — it implies criminal activity; use 团体 or 群体 for neutral groups)

Origin & History

Compound of 团 (group, organization) + 伙 (partner, gang). 伙 originally meant a group sharing meals; combined with 团 it emphasizes organized collaboration, typically for illicit purposes.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal