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才华横溢 (cái huá héng yì) — brimming with talent; exceptionally gifted

Definition

Idiom meaning someone is overflowing with talent and brilliance — used for writers, artists, performers, and other gifted people. Highly complimentary, stronger than just saying someone is talented.

idiom
brimming with talentexceptionally gifted

Examples

  • 才华横溢，。
    Zhè wèi zuò jiā cái huá héng yì, tā de xiǎo shuō shēn shòu dú zhě xǐ ài.
    This writer is brimming with talent; his novels are deeply loved by readers.
  • ，才华横溢，。
    Yīn yuè huì shàng, nà wèi qīng nián gāng qín jiā cái huá héng yì, yǎn zòu dé shí fēn dòng rén.
    At the concert, that young pianist was so brilliant that his performance was deeply moving.
  • 才华横溢，。
    Lì shǐ shàng cái huá héng yì de shī rén hěn duō, lǐ bái jiù shì qí zhōng zhī yī.
    Throughout history, many poets brimming with talent, and Li Bai is one of them.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

才华talent
才cáitalent华huábrilliance
联合Coordinate
横溢overflowing
横héngsideways/overflowing溢yìoverflow
偏正Modifier + head

“才华” (talent) and “横溢” (overflowing) picture talent brimming over.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

才 originally drew a sharp peg, not a sprout growing from the ground.

Open 才 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Open 华 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 橫; 横 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng橫héng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 橫 has 木, meaning wood, beside 黃, which supplies the sound; the simplified 横 is a later abbreviation.

Open 横 →

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

溢 is built from 氵, water, and 益, to increase, so it shows water rising and spilling over its edge.

Open 溢 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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