勤勤恳恳 (qín qín kěn kěn) — diligent and conscientious; hardworking and ear…

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning 'diligent and conscientious' — a stronger, more literary praise of steady hard work than everyday 努力.

idiom

diligent and conscientioushardworking and earnest

Examples

勤勤恳恳。
Tā qín qín kěn kěn dì gōng zuò le yí bèi zi.
He worked diligently and conscientiously his whole life.
勤勤恳恳，。
Zhè wèi lǎo shī qín qín kěn kěn, xué shēng men dōu hěn zūn jìng tā.
This teacher is diligent and conscientious; the students all respect her.
勤勤恳恳。
Nóng mín men qín qín kěn kěn dì gēng zhòng zhe zhè piàn tǔ dì.
The farmers diligently and conscientiously cultivate this land.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

勤勤diligent

勤qíndiligent勤qíndiligent

恳恳earnest

恳kěnearnest恳kěnearnest

勤 carries diligence and 恳 carries earnestness, and the whole stresses steady hard work.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 勤 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 勤 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 懇; 恳 is its simplified writing.

貇心懇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

貇

貇kěn懇kěn

Same sound today

The traditional form 懇 pairs 貇, which gives the pronunciation, with 心 (heart); the simplified 恳 is a shorthand.

Open 恳 →