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雅兴 (yǎ xìng) — refined mood or interest in elegant pursuits; aesthetic inclination

Definition

A literary word for being in the mood for elegant or cultured pursuits — like tea, poetry, or music. Often used in the negative: 没那个雅兴 ('not in the mood for that').

noun
refined mood or interest in elegant pursuitsaesthetic inclination

Examples

  • ，雅兴。
    Jīn tiān tiān qì hěn hǎo, wǒ hū rán yǒu le xiě shī de yǎ xìng.
    The weather is great today, and I suddenly have the refined mood to write a poem.
  • ，雅兴。
    Tā zhōu mò cháng qù chá guǎn pǐn chá, hěn yǒu yǎ xìng.
    He often goes to tea houses on weekends to savor tea — he has very refined tastes.
  • 雅兴，。
    Wǒ méi nà ge yǎ xìng qù tīng yīn yuè huì, tài lèi le.
    I'm not in the refined mood to go to a concert — I'm too tired.

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.

雅yǎelegant
兴xīnginterest

雅 means elegant and 兴 means interest, giving a refined mood or taste.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuīa short-tailed bird
Sound part声符shēngfú
牙
牙yá雅yǎ
Same sound today

雅 pairs 隹, a short-tailed bird, with 牙 as its sound part; the bird was a rook/crow, and the sense was extended to refined.

Open 雅 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 興; 兴 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 興 shows four hands lifting an object; the simplified 兴 is not the form described.

Open 兴 →
Appears in
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