伤心 (shāng xīn) — sad, grieved, heartbroken | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

伤心 is everyday 'sad / heartbroken' over a personal loss or disappointment. Weaker than the more formal/literary 悲伤 and 悲哀; less gentle/nostalgic than 伤感.

adjective

sadgrievedheartbroken

Examples

，伤心。
Tā diū le gōng zuò, hěn shāng xīn.
She lost her job and is very sad.
伤心，。
Bié shāng xīn le, wǒ péi nǐ chū qù zǒu zǒu.
Don't be sad — I'll go out for a walk with you.
，伤心。
Kàn dào zhè ge jié guǒ, tā fēi cháng shāng xīn.
Seeing this result, he was extremely sad.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

伤心 literally hurts the 心 'heart', so it describes deep grief.

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 傷; 伤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𥏻

𥏻𥏻傷shāng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傷 shows 人, a person, and uses 𥏻 to give the sound; the simplified 伤 is a later shorthand.

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 4 Emotions & Feelings 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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