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憧憬 (chōng jǐng) — to long for, to look forward to

Definition

憧憬 (chōngjǐng) is a literary, idealized longing — typically for a hoped-for future (career, life, world), not a specific absent person. Closer to 向往 than to 想念/思念 (which miss a person).

verb
to long forto look forward to

Examples

  • 憧憬。
    Tā chōng jǐng zhe wèi lái de měi hǎo shēng huó.
    He longs for a beautiful future life.
  • 憧憬。
    Wǒ cóng xiǎo jiù chōng jǐng chéng wéi yì míng kē xué jiā.
    I have longed to become a scientist since childhood.
  • 憧憬。
    Tā chōng jǐng yǒu yì tiān néng huán yóu shì jiè.
    She longs to travel around the world one day.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

憧chōng
憬jǐng

憧 and 憬 carry no meaning of their own here; together express longing.

Sound-only characters

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
童
童tóng憧
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

憧 has 忄, the heart, on the left, and 童 on the right, which gives it its sound.

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
景
景jǐng憬jǐng
Same sound today

憬 pairs 忄, a heart mark, with 景, which gives its sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Will & Intention

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