过火 (guò huǒ) — extreme; going too far | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

过火 (guò huǒ) means 'going too far' — used for behavior, jokes, or criticism that has crossed the line into excess. It is more colloquial than 过分 but overlaps closely with it; 过分 is the more common everyday choice.

adjective

extremegoing too far

Examples

过火，。
Tā kāi guò huǒ le, wán xiào yǒu diǎn guò fèn.
He went too far; the joke was a bit excessive.
过火，。
Zhè ge pī píng tài guò huǒ le, bú kè guān.
This criticism is too extreme and not objective.
过火，。
Tā de xíng wéi yǒu xiē guò huǒ, dà jiā dōu bù gāo xìng.
His behavior was a bit extreme, and everyone was unhappy.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

过 means to exceed and 火 is the fire or heat, giving the image of going too far.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi過guò

Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

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