高耸入云 (gāo sǒng rù yún) — towering into the clouds; reaching to the sky (形容极高)

Definition

An idiom describing something that towers extremely high into the clouds, used for tall buildings, mountains, or trees. The 高 emphasizes the great height itself; 耸 alone means to tower or rise sharply.

idiom
towering into the cloudsreaching to the sky (形容极高)

Examples

  • 高耸入云，。
    Zhè zuò dà lóu gāo sǒng rù yún, shì chéng shì de xīn dì biāo.
    This building towers into the clouds and is the city's new landmark.
  • 高耸入云。
    Yuǎn chù gāo sǒng rù yún de shān fēng zài xī yáng xià xiǎn de gé wài zhuàng lì.
    The mountain peaks towering into the clouds look especially magnificent under the setting sun.
  • 高耸入云，。
    Zhè piàn gǔ lǎo de sōng shù gāo sǒng rù yún, yǐ yǒu qiān nián lì shǐ.
    These ancient pine trees rise high into the clouds and have a history of a thousand years.

Origin

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 聳; 耸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěr
Sound part声符shēngfú
從
從cóng聳sǒng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 聳 pairs 耳 (ear) with 從 (cóng) to give the sound; the simplified 耸 is a later shorthand.

Open 耸 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

入 is drawn as an arrowhead, indicating 'to enter'.

Open 入 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雲; 云 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 雲 is 雨 (rain) plus 云; 云 was the original writing for 'cloud', and 雨 was added to separate it from the borrowed sense 'to say'.

Open 云 →

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