顽石 (wán dàn) — a large stone; boulder

Definition

Literary word for a hard, unyielding boulder — 顽 emphasizes the stone's stubborn, unmalleable quality, often used figuratively for a person of fixed mind. Plain 'boulder' is simply 巨石 or 大石头.

noun
a large stoneboulder
Measure word · 块
Easily confused

Examples

  • 顽石。
    Shān lù páng yǒu xǔ duō jù dà de wán dàn.
    There are many huge boulders beside the mountain path.
  • 顽石。
    Zhè kuài wán dàn de xíng zhuàng hěn xiàng yí gè rén.
    The shape of this boulder looks a lot like a person.
  • 顽石。
    Tā yí gè rén bān bú dòng nà me dà de wán dàn.
    He can't move such a big boulder by himself.

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.

顽wánstubborn
石shístone

“顽” describes stubborn hardness and “石” names a stone.

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 頑; 顽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán頑wán
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 頑, 元 gave the sound and 頁 showed 'head'; the sense was 'a stubborn head'.

Open 顽 →

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

The shape of 石 shows a stone under a cliff-like overhang, or a cave set into a cliff side.

Open 石 →

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