TongTong
Sign in

软绵绵 (ruǎn mián mián) — soft and fluffy; velvety; weak; limp (of body or will); overly sentimental; mawkish (of music, art, etc.)

Definition

A vivid reduplicated adjective meaning 'soft and fluffy' in a pleasant way, or (of a person) weak and limp with no energy. The third sense — mawkish, overly sentimental — is about music or art that feels cloying.

adjective
soft and fluffyvelvetyweaklimp (of body or will)overly sentimentalmawkish (of music, art, etc.)

Examples

  • 软绵绵，。
    Zhè zhǒng dàn gāo chī qǐ lái ruǎn mián mián de, rù kǒu jí huà.
    This kind of cake is soft and fluffy, melting in your mouth.
  • ，软绵绵，。
    Fā shāo zhī hòu, tā hún shēn ruǎn mián mián de, yì diǎn lì qi dōu méi yǒu.
    After the fever, her whole body felt weak and limp, without any strength.
  • 软绵绵，。
    Nà shǒu gē tài ruǎn mián mián le, tīng le ràng rén xiǎng kū.
    That song is too mawkish; it makes you want to cry after listening.

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.

软ruǎnsoft
绵绵fluffy
绵mián绵mián
重叠Reduplication

软 means soft, and 绵绵 adds a vivid fluffy feeling.

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 軟; 软 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
耎
耎ruǎn軟ruǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 軟 pairs 車 (carriage) with 耎 as a sound part; 耎 depicted a man under rain, and simplified 软 uses a later right side instead of 耎.

Open 软 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 绵 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 绵 →
Appears in
Texture & Quality

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.