笑嘻嘻 (xiào xī xī) — grinning; smiling cheerfully (often with a carefree or mischievous tone)

Definition

A vivid reduplicated adverbial meaning 'grinning, smiling cheerfully' — emphasizes a lighthearted, often mischievous or carefree mood, stronger and more colorful than plain 笑. Must be used with 的/地 (as in 笑嘻嘻的).

bound form
grinningsmiling cheerfully (often with a carefree or mischievous tone)

Examples

  • 笑嘻嘻，。
    Tā yì zhěng tiān dōu xiào xī xī de, hǎo xiàng yǒu shén me hǎo shì.
    He's been grinning all day, as if something good happened.
  • 笑嘻嘻。
    Nà ge xiào xī xī de xiǎo hái pǎo guò lái zhuā zhù le wǒ de yī jiǎo.
    That grinning child ran over and grabbed the hem of my clothes.
  • ，笑嘻嘻，。
    Tā tīng le zhè ge xiào hua, yì zhí xiào xī xī de, kāi xīn dé bù dé liǎo.
    She heard the joke and kept grinning, overjoyed.

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.

笑xiàosmile
嘻嘻cheerful tone
嘻xī嘻xī

笑 gives the core sense of smiling, while 嘻嘻 adds a cheerful, grinning tone.

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
喜
喜xǐ嘻xī
Same sound today

嘻 is formed from 口, the mouth, plus 喜, which gives the sound.

Open 嘻 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
喜
喜xǐ嘻xī
Same sound today

嘻 is formed from 口, the mouth, plus 喜, which gives the sound.

Open 嘻 →

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