赫赫 (hè hè) — illustrious, majestic, brilliant (literary, reduplicated adjective)

Definition

A literary, bound reduplicated adjective used to intensify 'illustrious, brilliant' (as in 赫赫有名, 战功赫赫). Far more formal and written than everyday 著名 or 伟大.

bound form
illustriousmajesticbrilliant (literary, reduplicated adjective)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā chū shēn yú yí gè hè hè yǒu míng de jiā zú.
    He was born into an illustrious family.
  • 赫赫。
    Zhè wèi jiāng jūn de hè hè zhàn gōng ràng suǒ yǒu rén jìng pèi.
    This general's brilliant military achievements made everyone admire him.
  • 赫赫。
    Lì shǐ shàng hè hè yì shí de dì guó zuì zhōng yě shuāi luò le.
    The once-glorious empire in history eventually declined.

Origin

Reduplicated word
构词法gòucífǎ
重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

赫hèillustrious
赫hèillustrious

The doubled 赫赫 strengthens 赫, giving an illustrious or brilliant sense.

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.

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

Open 赫 →

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