大喜过望 (dà xǐ guò wàng) — to be overjoyed beyond expectations, to be pleasantly surprised

Definition

Literally 'great joy beyond one's hopes': used when something turns out far better than expected. A literary, four-character idiom — more emphatic and formal than everyday 高兴.

idiom
to be overjoyed beyond expectations, to be pleasantly surprised

Examples

  • ，大喜过望。
    Tīng dào zì jǐ dé le dì yī míng, tā dà xǐ guò wàng.
    Hearing that he got first place, he was overjoyed beyond expectations.
  • 大喜过望。
    Zhè fèn yì wài de lǐ wù ràng tā dà xǐ guò wàng.
    This unexpected gift made her overjoyed.
  • ，大喜过望。
    Jié guǒ bǐ wǒ men xiǎng xiàng de hái hǎo, dà jiā dōu dà xǐ guò wàng.
    The result was even better than we imagined, so everyone was overjoyed.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

Open 喜 →

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi過guò
Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 过 →

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

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →

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