生机勃勃 (shēng jī bó bó) — full of vitality; vigorous; bursting with life

Definition

A vivid idiom meaning 'bursting with life and energy' — often used to describe nature, organizations, or economies in their prime. Sets a more literary, picture-painting tone than the plain 充满活力.

idiom
full of vitalityvigorousbursting with life

Examples

  • ,生机勃勃。
    Chūn tiān lái le, tián yě lǐ yí piàn shēng jī bó bó de jǐng xiàng.
    Spring has arrived, and the fields are a scene full of vitality.
  • ,生机勃勃。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī chéng lì shí nián, yī rán shēng jī bó bó.
    This company has been established for ten years and is still full of vitality.
  • ,生机勃勃,。
    Gǎi gé kāi fàng hòu, zhōng guó jīng jì shēng jī bó bó, fā zhǎn xùn sù.
    After the reform and opening-up, China's economy was bursting with vitality and developed rapidly.

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.

生机vitality
生shēnglife机jīvitality
偏正Modifier + head
勃勃vigorous
勃bóvigorous勃bóvigorous
重叠Reduplication

生机 means vitality and 勃勃 describes it as vigorous, so the phrase bursts with life.

Characters in this word

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

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
力力lìpower
Sound part声符shēngfú
孛
孛bèi勃⁰bó
Same sound today

勃 pairs 力, which carries the sense of power or force, with 孛 as a sound part.

Open 勃 →

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
力力lìpower
Sound part声符shēngfú
孛
孛bèi勃⁰bó
Same sound today

勃 pairs 力, which carries the sense of power or force, with 孛 as a sound part.

Open 勃 →

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