"Mischievousness"= 淘气, 调皮 and 顽皮 ???

[HashiriKata]

Hi,

1. While waiting for my biggest Chinese dictionary to arrive , I wonder if I can get some help in differentiating the meaning between these three similar words. I know that they all can mean "mischievous"/ "naughty", but are they all equal or are some more negative, more unpleasant than the others?

2. The word I'm looking for is the Chinese equivalent of "mischievousness" or "mischievous nature" (a noun) but the above are all adjectives. Can I just stick 性 at the end of them and make them nouns: 淘气性, 调皮性 and 顽皮性 ? or are there better alternatives?

Thanks,

HK

[HashiriKata]

A brief look on the internet indicated that all 淘气性, 调皮性 and 顽皮性 can be used to mean "mischievousness".

The bad news: I found one instance in which they mean "naughty sex" !!

[Quest]

2. The word I'm looking for is the Chinese equivalent of "mischievousness" or "mischievous nature" (a noun) but the above are all adjectives.

You can use them as nouns.

e.g. 他的淘气/调皮/顽皮，无人能及。

调皮 is slightly more negative, and 淘气 is at the other end of the scale.

[HashiriKata]

Thanks Quest, a case of me being oblivious of the obvious.

(But there must be some difference between, say 淘气 and 淘气性, when both are used as nouns. There is not?)

[Guest IVYtony]

they are all applicable to describing kids, not for women and men ;)

[HashiriKata]

they are all applicable to describing kids, not for women and men

But most partners consider their partners "kids", don't they ????

[Quest]

淘气/顽皮/调皮性 must be a modern construction if it were ever used...