大人物 (dà rén wù) — famous or influential person; VIP | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

大人物 (dà rénwù) literally 'big person,' used for someone famous, powerful, or high-ranking — often with a slightly informal or ironic tone (e.g. 'big shot'), unlike neutral terms for important people.

noun

famous or influential personVIP

Measure word · 个

Examples

大人物。
Tā shì zhè zuò chéng shì de yí gè dà rén wù.
He is a big shot in this city.
大人物。
Jīn tiān de huì yì shàng lái le hěn duō dà rén wù.
Many VIPs came to today's meeting.
大人物，。
Bié yǐ wéi zì jǐ shì dà rén wù, jiù kě yǐ bù shǒu guī ju.
Don't think that being a big shot means you can break the rules.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

人物personage

人rénperson物wùthing

偏正Modifier + head

大 big and 人物 personage combine, where 人 person and 物 thing make 人物.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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.

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

牛勿物

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

勿

勿wù物wù

Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Appears in

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