一飞冲天 (yì fēi chōng tiān) — to become famous or successful overnight; to achieve a meteoric rise

Definition

An idiom for a sudden, dramatic rise to fame or success — literally 'one leap into the sky.' It always implies speed and surprise, not gradual growth.

idiom
to become famous or successful overnightto achieve a meteoric rise

Examples

  • 一飞冲天，。
    Zhè wèi gē shǒu píng jiè yì shǒu gē yì fēi chōng tiān, xùn sù hóng biàn quán guó.
    With just one song, this singer shot to fame overnight, quickly becoming famous nationwide.
  • ，一飞冲天。
    Nà jiā chuàng yè gōng sī chéng lì bú dào liǎng nián jiù shàng shì, kě wèi yì fēi chōng tiān.
    That startup went public less than two years after its founding — a true meteoric rise.
  • ，一飞冲天，。
    Tā píng shí mò mò wú wén, zhè cì dà sài què yì fēi chōng tiān, ná dào guàn jūn.
    He had been unknown until this competition, where he shot to stardom and won the championship.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飛; 飞 is its simplified writing.

For 飞, the traditional form 飛 pictures a bird flying upwards.

Open 飞 →

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 衝; 冲 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 冲 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (冲, 冲动) it is 衝; in others (冲) it is 沖.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
重
重zhòng衝chōng
Same sound today

The traditional form 衝 shows 重 inside 行, with 行 as the meaning part and 重 as the sound part; the simplified 冲 is a later shorthand.

Open 冲 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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