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心切 (xīn qiē) — eager, impatient (often with a connotation of being too quick or hasty)

Definition

心切 describes someone who is overly eager or anxious to do something, often with a sense of being hasty or impatient. Always used as part of a phrase (归家心切, 求胜心切), not as a standalone verb.

verb
eagerimpatient (often with a connotation of being too quick or hasty)

Examples

  • 心切，。
    Tā guī jiā xīn qiē, hèn bu de mǎ shàng jiàn dào fù mǔ.
    He was so eager to return home that he couldn't wait to see his parents.
  • ，心切，。
    Bǐ sài hái méi jié shù, tā jiù xiǎn de qiú shèng xīn qiē, chū le jǐ gè shī wù.
    Before the game was even over, he seemed too eager to win and made several mistakes.
  • 心切，。
    Tā xué xí xīn qiē, měi tiān dōu áo yè zuò tí.
    She was so eager to study that she stayed up late doing problems every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

心xīnheart
切qièurgent

The 心 heart is 切 urgent, giving the sense of eager anxiety.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
七
七qī切qiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 切, the 刀 (knife) part is joined to 七, which gives the sound.

Open 切 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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