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富翁 (fù wēng) — rich person; millionaire; billionaire

Definition

富翁 (fùwēng) simply means a wealthy person. 富豪 adds a sense of power and high social status — think tycoon rather than just a rich person.

noun
rich personmillionairebillionaire
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 富翁，。
    Zhè wèi fù wēng bái shǒu qǐ jiā, kào zì jǐ de nǔ lì chuàng zào le cái fù.
    This rich person started from scratch and created wealth through his own efforts.
  • 富翁。
    Hěn duō fù wēng de shēng huó bìng bú xiàng rén men xiǎng xiàng de nà me qīng sōng.
    Many rich people's lives are not as easy as people imagine.
  • 富翁，。
    Tā shì yí wèi dī diào de fù wēng, hěn shǎo zài gōng kāi chǎng hé lòu miàn.
    He is a low-profile rich person who rarely appears in public.

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.

富fùrich
翁wēngolder man

富 means rich and 翁 means an older man, so 富翁 now denotes a very wealthy person.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú富fù
Same sound today

富 pairs 宀, a roof-shaped part, with 畐, which gives the sound fú.

Open 富 →

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
羽羽yǔwings
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng翁wēng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

翁 combines 羽 (wings) with 公, which gives the sound. Its shape originally pointed to feathers, and it later came to be used for “old man” and related senses.

Open 翁 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Social Roles & Status

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