精采 (jīng cǎi) — wonderful, brilliant, exciting | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary/formal adjective meaning 'brilliant, wonderful, exciting' — used in writing more than everyday speech. The everyday alternative is 精彩, which is pronounced and spelled identically.

adjective

wonderfulbrilliantexciting

Examples

精采，。
Zhè chǎng yǎn chū fēi cháng jīng cǎi, guān zhòng dōu gǔ zhǎng le.
This performance was wonderful; the audience all applauded.
精采，。
Zuó tiān de nà chǎng qiú sài dǎ dé hěn jīng cǎi, shuāng fāng dōu hěn nǔ lì.
Yesterday's ball game was fantastic; both sides tried hard.
精采，。
Tā de yǎn jiǎng nèi róng hěn jīng cǎi, dà jiā dōu tīng dé rù mí le.
Her speech content was brilliant; everyone was captivated.

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.

精jīngrefined

采cǎibrilliance

精 (refined) intensifies 采 (brilliance), giving a splendid 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.

米青精

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

青qīng精jīng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

精 pairs 米 (rice) with 青, which gives the sound; the character originally meant polished rice.

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 採; 采 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 采 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (采访, 采购) it is 採; in others it is 采.

扌采採

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

采cǎi採cǎi

Same sound today

The traditional form 採 combines 扌 (hand) with 采, which gives the sound and means to pick.

Appears in

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