红人 (hóng rén) — (colloquial) celebrity; popular person; someone…

Definition

Hsk 7 sense: a popular, in‑favor person (e.g. "the company's current 红人"). The older meaning "Red Indian" is dated and rarely used today.

noun

(colloquial) celebritypopular personsomeone in favor(dated) Red Indian (Native American)

红人。
Tā zuì jìn shì gōng sī lǐ de hóng rén.
He has recently become a celebrity in the company.
红人。
Zhè wèi hóng rén zài shè jiāo méi tǐ shàng hěn shòu huān yíng.
This celebrity is very popular on social media.
红人。
Lì shǐ shū lǐ tí dào le hóng rén zhè ge chēng hu.
History books mention the term 'Red Indian'.

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.

红 here suggests popularity or favor, so 红人 means a person who is popular or favored.

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 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

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

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Appears in