万贯 (wàn guàn) — to be enormously wealthy (originally 'ten thousand strings of cash')

Definition

Literary expression meaning 'enormously rich', from an old unit of cash (贯 = 1000 coins). Almost always appears in fixed phrases like 家财万贯 or 腰缠万贯 rather than on its own.

verb
to be enormously wealthy (originally 'ten thousand strings of cash')

Examples

  • 万贯！
    Tā zhēn shì jiā cái wàn guàn a!
    He truly has enormous family wealth!
  • ，。
    Zhè wèi shāng rén yāo chán wàn guàn, shēng yì zuò dé hěn dà.
    This merchant is loaded with money, and his business is very big.
  • 万贯，。
    Suī rán tā bìng bú shì wàn guàn, dàn yě guò dé hěn hǎo.
    Although he is not extremely wealthy, he still lives very well.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

万wànten thousand
贯guànstring of cash

万 suggests ten thousand, and 贯 gives strings of cash, picturing great wealth.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貫; 贯 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貫 originally showed two shells strung together; the simplified 贯 is a later abbreviation.

Open 贯 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.