硬邦邦 (yìng bāng bāng) — rock-hard, stiff (describes something that feels very hard and unyielding)

Definition

Reduplicated adjective meaning 'rock-hard, stiff' — the de- form (硬邦邦的) is far more common than the bare adjective, used for bread, frozen fingers, mattresses, etc. A vivid, colloquial alternative to plain 硬.

adjective
rock-hardstiff (describes something that feels very hard and unyielding)

Examples

  • ，硬邦邦。
    Zhè kuài miàn bāo fàng le yí yè, biàn de yìng bāng bāng de.
    This piece of bread sat out all night and turned rock-hard.
  • 硬邦邦，。
    Tā dòng dé shǒu zhǐ dōu yìng bāng bāng de, jī hū wò bú zhù bǐ.
    His fingers were so frozen they were stiff, and he could barely hold the pen.
  • 硬邦邦，。
    Xīn mǎi de chuáng diàn tài yìng bāng bāng le, shuì le yì wǎn yāo suān bèi tòng.
    The new mattress is too hard — after one night my back and waist ache.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

硬yìnghard
邦邦
邦bāng邦bāng
重叠Reduplication

硬 means hard; 邦邦 itself carries no separate meaning but intensifies the feel.

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
石石shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
更
更gèng硬yìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

硬 is built from 石, meaning stone, to show hardness or stiffness, and 更, which gives the sound.

Open 硬 →

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
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng邦bāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

邦 combines 丰, which gives the sound, with 阝, the side form of 邑, a settlement.

Open 邦 →

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
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng邦bāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

邦 combines 丰, which gives the sound, with 阝, the side form of 邑, a settlement.

Open 邦 →

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