奇妙 (qí miào) — wonderful, fantastic, amazing

Definition

奇妙 highlights something strange and delightful — 'wonderful' in a mysterious or surprising way. Closer to 神奇 than to 棒 or 精彩 (which are just 'great/good').

adjective
wonderfulfantasticamazing

Examples

  • 奇妙。
    Dà zì rán zhōng chōng mǎn le qí miào de xiàn xiàng.
    Nature is full of wonderful phenomena.
  • 奇妙。
    Zhè ge mèng zhēn de hěn qí miào.
    This dream was really amazing.
  • 奇妙。
    Wǒ zài hǎi dǐ kàn dào le hěn duō qí miào de shēng wù.
    I saw many wonderful creatures in the underwater world.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

奇qíunusual
妙miàowonderful

奇 suggests something unusual, and 妙 adds a sense of wonder, giving a fantastic feeling.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dàbig; great
Sound part声符shēngfú
可
可kě奇
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奇 pairs 大 (big; great) with 可, a sound part.

Open 奇 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
少
少shǎo妙miào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

妙 combines 女, a woman, with 少, which gives the sound.

Open 妙 →
Appears in
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