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赫然 (hè rán) — striking, impressive, awe-inspiring; (of anger) furious

Definition

Adverbial adjective meaning 'visibly, strikingly' — something conspicuously present, often with shock or awe. Stronger and more literary than 醒目 (just eye-catching); in its anger sense it's an old-style intensifier, like 气愤 but more formal.

adjective
strikingimpressiveawe-inspiring(of anger) furious

Examples

  • 赫然。
    Tā hè rán fā xiàn fáng jiān lǐ yǒu yì fēng xìn.
    He was astonished to find a letter in the room.
  • 赫然。
    Shān dǐng shàng de shí bēi hè rán chù lì zhe.
    The stone tablet on the mountaintop stands impressively.
  • ，赫然。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā hè rán dà nù.
    Hearing this news, he flew into a furious rage.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

赫hèconspicuous
然rán

赫 (conspicuous) plus 然 yields a striking, awe-inspiring state.

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.

赫 is made from two copies of the same part, and that part also gives its sound.

Open 赫 →

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
肰
肰rán然rán
Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

Open 然 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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