浮云 (fú yún) — floating clouds (literal); (figurative) something insignificant, ephemeral, or not worth caring about

Definition

Literally 'floating clouds', but in modern Chinese it is usually a metaphor for things that are fleeting, insubstantial, or not worth chasing — like fame or past glories.

noun
floating clouds (literal)(figurative) something insignificantephemeralor not worth caring about
Measure word · 朵

Examples

  • 浮云。
    Tiān shàng de fú yún màn màn piāo guò.
    Floating clouds slowly drift across the sky.
  • ，浮云。
    Duì wǒ lái shuō, guò qù de róng yù dōu shì fú yún.
    For me, past honors are all fleeting clouds.
  • ，浮云。
    Tā cháng shuō, míng lì bú guò shì fú yún.
    He often says that fame and fortune are just floating clouds.

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.

浮fúfloating
云yúncloud

浮 means floating and 云 means cloud, so the word describes clouds drifting in the sky.

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shuǐriver
Sound part声符shēngfú
孚
孚fú浮fú
Same sound today

浮 pairs 水 (river) with 孚, which gives the sound; the river part points to its meaning of floating.

Open 浮 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雲; 云 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 雲 is 雨 (rain) plus 云; 云 was the original writing for 'cloud', and 雨 was added to separate it from the borrowed sense 'to say'.

Open 云 →

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