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荒唐 (huāng táng) — absurd, preposterous, beyond belief; dissipated, intemperate (of lifestyle or behavior)

Definition

荒唐 covers both 'absurd, ridiculous' (a claim, plan) and 'dissipated, loose' (a lifestyle) — a stronger, more literary term than the everyday 荒谬. Used more for behavior and living than for pure logic.

adjective
absurdpreposterousbeyond beliefdissipatedintemperate (of lifestyle or behavior)

Examples

  • 荒唐，。
    Zhè ge shuō fǎ jiǎn zhí huāng táng tòu dǐng, méi rén huì xiāng xìn.
    This claim is utterly absurd—nobody will believe it.
  • 荒唐，。
    Tā nián qīng shí guò zhe huāng táng de shēng huó, xiàn zài fēi cháng hòu huǐ.
    He lived a dissipated life when he was young, and now he deeply regrets it.
  • 荒唐，。
    Bié zhè me huāng táng le, wǒ men shì zài tán zhèng jīng shì.
    Stop being so preposterous — we're discussing serious matters.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

荒huāng
唐táng

Here 荒 and 唐 carry no meaning of their own; together they form a word for absurd or intemperate behavior.

Sound-only characters

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss, plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
巟
巟huāng荒huāng
Same sound today

荒 is built from 艹 (grass, plant) and 巟, with 巟 giving the sound huāng.

Open 荒 →

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

唐 pairs 庚, a picture of a hollow instrument, with 口 as a distinguishing mark; the shape is based on hollowness or openness.

Open 唐 →
Appears in
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