TongTong
Sign in

高档 (gāo dàng) — high-grade, high-end, upscale

Definition

高档 means 'high-end / upscale' and is used for tangible products like bags, hotels, or phones. It overlaps with 高级 (more often for skill/level) and 高端 (more abstract/technical, e.g. '高端市场').

adjective
high-gradehigh-endupscale

Examples

  • 高档。
    Wǒ mǎi le yí gè gāo dàng de bāo.
    I bought a high-end bag.
  • 高档高档。
    Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn de fú wù fēi cháng gāo dàng de fú wù fēi cháng gāo dàng.
    The service at this hotel is very upscale.
  • 高档？
    Nǐ jué de gāo dàng de shǒu jī hǎo yòng ma?
    Do you think high-end phones are good to use?

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.

高gāohigh
档dànggrade

高 (high) and 档 (grade) combine to mean high grade or upscale.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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 檔; 档 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
當
當dāng檔dàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 檔 pairs 木, a tree, with 當 as the sound part. The simplified 档 is an abbreviation of 檔.

Open 档 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Good & Bad

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.