TongTong
Sign in

坚强 (jiān qiáng) — strong-willed; firm; staunch (in character)

Definition

坚强 describes inner strength of character — staying firm and resilient through hardship, not physical strength (that's 强壮). It pairs with 性格/意志 to mean 'strong-willed'.

adjective
strong-willedfirmstaunch (in character)

Examples

  • ，坚强。
    Miàn duì cuò zhé, tā biǎo xiàn dé fēi cháng jiān qiáng.
    Faced with setbacks, he showed great strength.
  • 坚强，。
    Tā shì yí gè jiān qiáng de rén, cóng bú fàng qì.
    She is a strong-willed person who never gives up.
  • 坚强。
    Tā de jiān qiáng xìng gé zhí dé wǒ men xué xí.
    His firm character is worth learning from.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

坚jiānfirm
强qiángstrong

坚 means firm and 强 means strong; together they describe inner strength.

Characters in this word

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 堅; 坚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
臤
臤qiān堅jiān
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 堅 pairs 臤, giving the sound, with 土, earth, giving the sense; the simplified 坚 is a later shorthand.

Open 坚 →

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 強; 强 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 強 pairs an insect component with a sound component; this explains 強, not the simplified 强.

Open 强 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Personality & Traits3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.