怪人 (guài rén) — an eccentric; a strange or peculiar person | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

an eccentrica strange or peculiar person

Measure word · 个

Examples

怪人。
Dà jiā dōu jué de tā shì gè guài rén.
Everyone thinks he's an eccentric.
怪人。
Zhè ge guài rén zǒng shì chuān zhuó qí guài de yī fu.
This strange person always wears weird clothes.
，怪人，。
Zài bié rén kàn lái, tā kě néng shì gè guài rén, dàn wǒ jué de tā hěn yǒu qù.
In others' eyes, he might be an eccentric, but I think he's interesting.

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.

怪guàistrange

“怪” (strange) describes “人” (person), yielding an eccentric 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.

忄圣怪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

圣

圣shèng怪guài

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.

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.

Appears in

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