乐呵呵 (lè hē hē) — cheerful, beaming with joy, buoyant and happy

Definition

An adverbial idiom meaning 'cheerfully, with a big smile' — usually describes a person's mood or manner, often used with 地 before a verb. It paints a warm, lighthearted picture rather than describing a permanent trait.

verb

cheerfulbeaming with joybuoyant and happy

Examples

乐呵呵，。
Tā zhěng tiān lè hē hē de, hǎo xiàng méi yǒu fán nǎo.
He is cheerful all day, as if he has no worries.
乐呵呵。
Lǎo yé ye lè hē hē dì kàn zhe sūn zi zài yuàn zi lǐ wán.
The old man watched his grandson playing in the yard, beaming with joy.
乐呵呵。
Tā lè hē hē dì dā ying le wǒ men de yāo qǐng.
She cheerfully accepted our invitation.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

乐lèhappy

呵呵laughter sound

呵hēlaughter sound呵hēlaughter sound

重叠Reduplication

乐呵呵 describes a beaming manner; 乐 gives the happy idea and 呵呵 gives a laughing, cheerful tone.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

絲絲sīstring
木木mùwood

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Open 乐 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口可呵

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

可

可kě呵hē

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 口 (mouth) points to a mouth action, while 可 gives the sound.

Open 呵 →