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闲话 (xián huà) — (noun) gossip; idle talk; casual conversation; (verb) to gossip about; to chat about (someone or something)

Definition

闲话 (xián huà) is idle, casual talk that often drifts into gossip — lighter and more aimless than 聊天儿 (chatting with someone), more negative than 八卦 (juicy rumors).

noun
gossipidle talkcasual conversation
verb
to gossip aboutto chat about (someone or something)
Measure word · 句

Examples

  • 闲话，。
    Dà jiā zuò zài yì qǐ shuō shuō xián huà, gǎn jué hěn qīng sōng.
    Everyone sat together chatting idly and felt very relaxed.
  • 闲话。
    Bú yào zài bèi hòu shuō bié rén de xián huà.
    Don't gossip about others behind their backs.
  • 闲话。
    Tā men zǒng ài xián huà gōng sī lǐ de shì qing.
    They always like to gossip about things in the company.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

闲xiánidle
话huàtalk

Idle talk describes gossip or casual conversation, and can mean to gossip.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 閒; 闲 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 閒 puts 月 (moon) inside 門 (door), as if moonlight peeks through a door; this picture gives the idea of a gap or space. The simplified 闲 is a later abbreviation.

Open 闲 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & Speech

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