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惋惜 (wǎn xī) — to regret, to feel sorry for (a loss or missed opportunity)

Definition

惋惜 is a written, somewhat literary verb-feeling adjective for regretting a loss or missed chance — more formal than 可惜. Closer to 遗憾 than to 可怜 (pity for suffering) or 心疼 (reluctance to lose something used).

adjective
to regretto feel sorry for (a loss or missed opportunity)

Examples

  • 惋惜。
    Wǒ duì tā de lí qù shēn gǎn wǎn xī.
    I deeply regret his departure.
  • ，惋惜。
    Tā cuò guò le zhè me hǎo de gōng zuò, zhēn lìng rén wǎn xī.
    It's really a pity that she missed such a good job.
  • 惋惜。
    Dà jiā dōu wèi nà duàn yǒu yì de jié shù gǎn dào wǎn xī gǎn dào jié shù.
    Everyone feels sorry about the end of that friendship.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

惋wǎnregret
惜xīpity

惋 and 惜 both express regret or pity, so together they convey feeling sorry for a loss.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
昔
昔xī惜⁰xī
Same sound today

惜 has 忄, the heart, and 昔, which gives the sound. 昔 also points to the past or an ending, so the feeling is about something past.

Open 惜 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Emotions & Feelings

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