喜洋洋 (xǐ yáng yáng) — radiant with joy, beaming with happiness | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

喜洋洋 (xǐ yáng yáng) is a vivid, reduplicated descriptor meaning 'radiant with joy' — used mostly as an adverbial or attributive to paint a scene, more colorful than 喜悦. Use it for atmospheres and faces, not as a simple predicate of feeling.

adjective

radiant with joybeaming with happiness

Examples

，喜洋洋。
Jié rì lǐ, jiē shàng dào chù shì xǐ yáng yáng de rén qún.
During the festival, the streets are full of joyous crowds.
，喜洋洋。
Tīng dào hǎo xiāo xi, tā xǐ yáng yáng dì tiào le qǐ lái.
Upon hearing the good news, she jumped up joyfully.
喜洋洋。
Hái zi men liǎn shàng guà zhe xǐ yáng yáng de xiào róng.
The children wore beaming smiles on their faces.

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.

洋洋beaming

洋yáng洋yáng

重叠Reduplication

The 喜 joy is brightened by 洋洋 beaming to mean radiant with happiness.

Characters in this word

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

壴口喜

壴壴zhùdrum
口口kǒumouth

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

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

氵羊洋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

羊yáng洋yáng

Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

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

氵羊洋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

羊yáng洋yáng

Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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