红火 (hóng huo) — prosperous, thriving, booming | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

红火 describes business, trade, or daily life as lively, bustling, and booming — more vivid and colloquial than the written 繁荣.

adjective

prosperousthrivingbooming

Examples

红火。
Zhè jiā xiǎo chī diàn shēng yì hěn hóng huo.
This snack shop's business is very thriving.
红火。
Xī wàng nǐ de rì zi yuè guò yuè hóng huo.
I hope your life gets more and more prosperous as time goes on.
红火。
Nà ge wǎng diàn kāi zhāng yǐ lái yì zhí hěn hóng huo.
That online store has been thriving ever since it opened.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

红 and 火 both suggest lively, thriving heat, so together they mean prosperous.

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

工gōng紅hóng

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.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Business & Commerce

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