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古怪 (gǔ guài) — strange, weird, eccentric, bizarre

Definition

古怪 describes a person's character or behavior as odd and eccentric — a settled, personality-level trait. Stronger and more pejorative than 怪, which is broader ('strange' in any sense).

adjective
strangeweirdeccentricbizarre

Examples

  • 古怪。
    Tā zuì jìn de xíng wéi hěn gǔ guài.
    His behavior recently is very strange.
  • 古怪，。
    Zhè ge shè jì kàn qǐ lái yǒu diǎn gǔ guài, dàn hěn yǒu chuàng yì.
    This design looks a bit weird, but very creative.
  • 古怪，。
    Tā de xiào róng yǒu diǎn gǔ guài, ràng wǒ jué de bú tài shū fu.
    Her smile was a bit strange and made me feel uncomfortable.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One reading of 古 sees a shield-like shape above an open mark, showing strength and firmness. Another sees a person spitting out bad-tasting food.

Open 古 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
圣
圣shèng怪guài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.

Open 怪 →
Appears in
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