TongTong
Sign in

沾光 (zhān guāng) — to benefit from association with someone and get benefit from it; to enjoy reflected glory

Definition

沾光 means 'to ride on someone else's coattails' — gaining benefit from their success or generosity, not by your own effort. Here 沾 is figurative ('to get a share by association'), not physical contact.

verb
to benefit from association with someone and get benefit from itto enjoy reflected glory

Examples

  • ，。
    Zhè cì tā píng shàng yōu xiù, wán quán shì zhān le shī fu de guāng.
    He got the 'excellent' rating this time entirely because of his master's reputation.
  • 沾光，。
    Bié zǒng xiǎng zhe zhān guāng, zì jǐ nǔ lì cái kào pǔ.
    Don't always try to ride on others' coattails — hard work yourself is what counts.
  • ，。
    Tā qǐng kè, wǒ yě qù zhān diǎn r guāng.
    He's treating, so I'll go and get some benefit out of it.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

沾zhāntouch or benefit from
光guānglight or glory

沾 means to touch or benefit from, and 光 means light or reflected glory.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn沾zhān
Same sound today

The left part 水 is water, so the shape fits meanings like moisten and soak; the right part 占 gives the sound.

Open 沾 →

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6

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