惊人 (jīng rén) — astonishing, amazing, startling | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

惊人 describes a fact or result that is shockingly extreme in scale — huge losses, dramatic progress — not a person's skill (use 厉害 or 了不起 for that). It pairs with abstract nouns, while 惊讶 is the feeling of being surprised.

adjective

astonishingamazingstartling

Examples

惊人。
Zhè ge xiāo xi zhēn jīng rén.
This news is really astonishing.
惊人。
Tā qǔ dé le jīng rén de jìn bù.
He made astonishing progress.
惊人。
Nà chǎng shì gù zào chéng de sǔn shī shí fēn jīng rén.
The losses caused by that accident were astonishing.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

惊jīngastonish

惊 means to astonish and 人 is people, so the word describes something that astonishes people.

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.

忄京惊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng惊jīng

Same sound today

惊 is made from 忄 (heart) and 京, 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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