TongTong
Sign in

光彩 (guāng cǎi) — (noun) luster, splendor, radiance, brilliance; (adjective) glorious, honorable (often used in negative constructions)

Definition

光彩 is both the visible 'luster/brilliance' of a thing and the figurative 'honor/glory' of a deed — the second sense is the one you'll most often meet in HSK 7 negative phrases like 不光彩 ('disgraceful').

noun
lustersplendorradiancebrilliance
adjective
glorioushonorable (often used in negative constructions)

Examples

  • 光彩。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì de yè jǐng chōng mǎn le guāng cǎi.
    The night view of this city is full of splendor.
  • 光彩。
    Tā zuò le yí jiàn hěn guāng cǎi de shì.
    He did a very honorable thing.
  • 。
    Zhè zhǒng qī piàn xíng wéi fēi cháng bù guāng cǎi.
    This kind of deceptive behavior is very disgraceful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

光guānglight/luster
彩cǎicolor/brilliance

光 is light or luster, and 彩 is color or brilliance, giving shining splendor.

Characters in this word

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi彩cǎi
Same sound today

彩 puts 采, which gives the sound, next to 彡, the three-stroke mark that carries the meaning.

Open 彩 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6AppearanceGood & Bad

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.