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令人信服 (lìng rén xìn fú) — convincing, compelling

Definition

A written-formal idiom meaning 'convincing, compelling' — stronger and more literary than the plain adjective 让人相信, used to praise arguments, evidence, or reasoning that wins full trust.

idiom
convincingcompelling

Examples

  • 令人信服。
    Tā de jiě shì fēi cháng lìng rén xìn fú.
    His explanation is very convincing.
  • 令人信服。
    Kē xué jiā tí chū le lìng rén xìn fú de zhèng jù.
    The scientist presented convincing evidence.
  • 令人信服。
    Zhè ge gù shi xiě dé bú gòu lìng rén xìn fú.
    This story is not written convincingly enough.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

  • 亼亼jí
  • 卩卩jié

In 令, the upper 亼 is an open mouth and the lower 卩 is a kneeling person, together showing someone giving orders.

Open 令 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
凡凡fántray
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠬝
𠬝𠬝服fú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Open 服 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesGood & Bad

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