惊奇 (jīng qí) — amazed, surprised, astonished | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

An adjective meaning 'amazed, astonished' at something unexpected. Stronger and more literary than the everyday 吃惊; close to 惊讶 but emphasizes a sense of wonder rather than just shock.

adjective

amazedsurprisedastonished

Examples

，惊奇。
Kàn dào zhè yàng de jǐng sè, tā gǎn dào shí fēn jīng qí.
Seeing such a view, he felt very amazed.
惊奇。
Tā jīng qí dì fā xiàn zì jǐ de huà dé le jiǎng.
She was surprised to find that her painting had won an award.
惊奇。
Hái zi men jīng qí dì kàn zhe mó shù shī de biǎo yǎn.
The children watched the magician's performance with amazement.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

惊jīngsurprise

奇qístrange

惊 'surprise' and 奇 'strange' together mean amazed by something unusual.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

大可奇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

大大dàbig; great

Sound part声符shēngfú

可

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

奇 pairs 大 (big; great) with 可, a sound part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Emotions & Feelings

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