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好胜 (hào shèng) — competitive, eager to win

Definition

好胜 describes a personal trait — someone who always needs to win or be best. It focuses on the desire to beat others, while 要强 emphasizes pushing oneself to be strong/capable.

adjective
competitiveeager to win

Examples

  • 好胜，。
    Tā tài hào shèng le, zǒng shì yào zhēng dì yī.
    He's too competitive; he always wants to be first.
  • 好胜，。
    Nǐ tài hào shèng le, zhè yàng huì lèi huài zì jǐ de.
    You're too competitive; you'll wear yourself out this way.
  • 好胜，。
    Tā suī rán hào shèng, dàn shū dé qǐ.
    Although he's competitive, he can lose gracefully.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

好hǎofond of
胜shèngwin

好 means fond of or like, and 胜 means win; wanting to win describes a competitive person.

Characters in this word

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

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng胜shèng
Same sound today

The simplified 胜 changes the traditional 勝 by replacing part of its sound side with 生; the left 肉 relates to meat.

Open 胜 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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