离奇 (lí qí) — bizarre, strange, odd | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

离奇 stresses that something is bizarre and hard to believe — usually a story, event, or plot, not a person's personality. Stronger than 奇怪; more ‘incredible’ than 古怪 or 蹊跷, which hint at eccentricity or suspicion.

adjective

bizarrestrangeodd

Examples

离奇，。
Zhè ge gù shi de qíng jié fēi cháng lí qí, ràng rén nán yǐ zhì xìn.
The plot of this story is very bizarre, hard to believe.
离奇。
Tā nà zhǒng lí qí de xíng wéi yǐn qǐ le dà jiā de zhù yì.
His bizarre behavior attracted everyone's attention.
离奇。
Zhè jiàn lí qí de shì qing fā shēng zài zuó tiān yè lǐ.
This bizarre thing happened last night.

Origin

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 離; 离 is its simplified writing.

离隹離

Meaning part形符xíngfú

隹隹zhuībird

Sound part声符shēngfú

离

离lí離lí

Same sound today

The traditional form 離 pairs 隹, a bird, with the sound part 离; the simplified 离 is a shorthand. This form first wrote a black-naped oriole, and the sound was borrowed for 'leave'.

Open 离 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

大可奇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

大大dàbig; great

Sound part声符shēngfú

可

可kě奇

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奇 pairs 大 (big; great) with 可, a sound part.

Open 奇 →

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