TongTong
Sign in

大话 (dà huà) — big talk; boast; tall tale

Definition

Noun for 'big talk, boast' — empty promises or exaggerated claims, often paired with 说 (说大话). Differs from 吹牛: 大话 names the talk itself; 吹牛 is the act of bragging.

noun
big talkboasttall tale

Examples

  • ，。
    Bú yào suí biàn shuō dà huà, yào shuō dào zuò dào.
    Don't casually make big promises; match your words with action.
  • 。
    Tā zuì xǐ huan zài péng you miàn qián shuō dà huà.
    He loves to boast in front of his friends.
  • 大话，。
    Tā de dà huà méi rén xiāng xìn, dà jiā dōu zhī dào tā ài chuī niú.
    No one believes his tall tales; everyone knows he likes to brag.

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.

大dàbig
话huàwords

“大” adds exaggerated or big, and “话” gives words or speech, so the whole means boastful talk.

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.

Open 大 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.