正派 (zhèng pài) — upright; honest; decent | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Describes a person who behaves morally upright — honest, decent, principled. Used for someone's character or conduct, not appearance or style.

adjective

uprighthonestdecent

Examples

正派，。
Tā wèi rén hěn zhèng pài, dà jiā dōu xìn rèn tā.
He is a very upright person; everyone trusts him.
正派，。
Zuò shēng yi yào zhèng pài, bù néng qī piàn gù kè.
In business you must be honest; you cannot cheat customers.
正派。
zhèng pài De rén cóng lái bú zuò kuī xīn shì.
An honest person never does things that weigh on their conscience.

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.

正zhèngupright

派pàifaction

正 contributes 'upright', and 派 contributes 'faction', yielding an honest, decent sense.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng正zhèng

Same sound today

正 pairs 止 with 丁; 止 marks the sense and 丁 gives the 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

水水shuǐwater; river

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠂢

𠂢𠂢派pài

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

派 is built from 水 (water/river) and 𠂢. 𠂢 gives the sound, and 水 was added later to tell the character apart from the older form.

Appears in

Personality & Traits

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