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奢侈 (shē chǐ) — luxurious, extravagant

Definition

奢侈 describes a wasteful, excessive style of living or consumption — more judgmental than 豪华 ('luxurious, high-end'), which is neutral praise for quality.

adjective
luxuriousextravagant

Examples

  • 奢侈。
    Zhè zhǒng shē chǐ de shēng huó fāng shì bìng bù yí dìng xìng fú.
    This kind of luxurious lifestyle isn't necessarily happy.
  • 奢侈。
    Zhè ge shǒu biǎo pǐn pái yǐ shē chǐ de shè jì wén míng.
    This watch brand is famous for its extravagant designs.
  • 奢侈。
    Tā yīn wèi zhuī qiú shē chǐ ér fù zhài lěi lěi.
    She ended up deep in debt because of pursuing luxury.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

奢shēextravagant
侈chǐwasteful

奢 and 侈 both mean extravagant, together intensifying luxury.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 奢 →

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
多
多duō侈chǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

侈 is built from 人 (person) plus 多, which supplies the sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Good & Bad

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