惊羡 (jīng xiàn) — to marvel at; to admire with wonder

Definition

惊羡 means to marvel at someone with a sense of envy or longing — stronger than simple 羡慕, with an added note of astonishment. Common in written/literary Chinese.

verb
to marvel atto admire with wonder

Examples

  • 惊羡。
    Tā de cái huá lìng rén jīng xiàn.
    His talent is admirable and amazing.
  • 惊羡。
    Dà jiā dōu jīng xiàn tā de yǒng qì.
    Everyone marveled at her courage.
  • 惊羡。
    Zhè zuò jiàn zhù de shè jì ràng rén jīng xiàn bù yǐ.
    The design of this building makes people marvel endlessly.

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.

惊jīngwonder
羡xiànadmire

惊 adds wonder to 羡, giving the sense of admiring something with surprise.

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.

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.

Open 惊 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羨; 羡 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 羨 combines 羊 (sheep) and 㳄 (saliva) to express envy; the different form 羡 is not the one whose parts are explained.

Open 羡 →

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