肥胖 (féi pàng) — obese; excessively overweight (formal or medica… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

肥胖 is the formal/medical word for obesity. Use 胖 in everyday talk about people; 肥胖 appears in clinical, health, and written contexts.

adjective

obeseexcessively overweight (formal or medical term)

Examples

肥胖。
Cháng qī bú yùn dòng róng yì dǎo zhì féi pàng.
Long-term lack of exercise can easily lead to obesity.
肥胖，。
féi pàng Bù jǐn yǐng xiǎng wài biǎo, yě yǐng xiǎng jiàn kāng.
Obesity not only affects appearance but also affects health.
肥胖。
Yī shēng jiàn yì zhè wèi féi pàng huàn zhě kòng zhì yǐn shí.
The doctor advised this obese patient to control his diet.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

肥 and 胖 both convey fatness.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

肉肉ròumeat
卪卪jiéperson kneeling

肥 is built from 肉, meat, and 卪, a kneeling person.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

半

半bàn胖pán

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

胖 pairs 肉, which relates to flesh or the body, with 半, which gives a clue to the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Illness & Symptoms

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