壮士 (zhuàng shì) — hero; warrior

Definition

Literary, honorific term for a brave and righteous person — a 'hero' or 'warrior' with a sense of moral courage, stronger and more elevated than the everyday 英雄.

noun
herowarrior
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 壮士。
    Gǔ dài yǒu xǔ duō zhuàng shì wèi le bǎo wèi jiā yuán ér zhàn.
    In ancient times, many warriors fought to defend their homeland.
  • ，壮士。
    Tā zài huǒ zāi zhōng jiù chū xiǎo hái, zhēn shì yí wèi zhuàng shì.
    He rescued a child from the fire — truly a hero.
  • 壮士。
    Nà wèi zhuàng shì miàn duì wēi xiǎn háo bú tuì suō.
    That warrior showed no fear in the face of danger.

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.

壮zhuàngstrong
士shìperson

壮 describes strength or grandeur and 士 denotes a person, so it means a strong heroic person.

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 壯; 壮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
士士shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
爿
爿pán壯zhuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 壯 uses 士 to hint at the meaning and 爿 for the sound; the simplified 壮 is a later abbreviation.

Open 壮 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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