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强有力 (qiáng yǒu lì) — strong; powerful; forceful; vigorous

Definition

强有力 is a written, formal adjective meaning 'strong and forceful' — used in political, official, or argumentative contexts (e.g. 措施, 证据, 领导者). Stronger and more literary than plain 强 or 有力 alone.

adjective
strongpowerfulforcefulvigorous

Examples

  • 强有力。
    Zhèng fǔ bì xū cǎi qǔ qiáng yǒu lì de cuò shī lái yìng duì wēi jī.
    The government must take strong measures to deal with the crisis.
  • 强有力。
    Tā de bào gào tí gōng le qiáng yǒu lì de zhèng jù.
    His report provided powerful evidence.
  • 强有力。
    Zhè ge tuán duì xū yào yí wèi qiáng yǒu lì de lǐng dǎo zhě.
    This team needs a strong leader.

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.

强qiángstrong
有力having strength
有yǒuhave力lìstrength
动宾Verb + object

强 adds the sense of being strong to 有力, which means having strength, so 强有力 describes something vigorous and powerful.

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 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 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
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