泪光 (lèi guāng) — glistening tears; the shimmer of tears in one's eyes

Definition

A literary image: the shimmer or glint of unshed tears in the eyes, rather than tears that have fallen. More poetic than 眼泪, which names the physical tears themselves.

noun
glistening tearsthe shimmer of tears in one's eyes

Examples

  • 泪光。
    Tā yǎn zhōng shǎn shuò zhe lèi guāng.
    Her eyes shimmered with glistening tears.
  • 泪光，。
    Tā rěn zhù lèi guāng, méi yǒu kū chū lái.
    He held back his glistening tears and didn't cry.
  • 泪光。
    lèi guāng Zài tā yǎn kuàng lǐ dǎ zhuàn.
    Glistening tears swirled in her eye sockets.

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.

泪lèitears
光guānglight

The light or glimmer associated with tears gives the image of shining eyes.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 淚; 泪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
戾
戾lì淚lèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 淚 uses 水 (water) and 戾 for sound; this describes 淚, not 泪.

Open 泪 →

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 →

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