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好运 (hǎo yùn) — good luck

Definition

A set phrase used mostly in wishes and greetings ("good luck!"), not as a general term for luck itself. 运气 and 幸运 cover the everyday noun sense ("my luck is good"); 福气 is a deeper, lasting blessing.

noun
good luck

Examples

  • ！
    Zhù nǐ hǎo yùn!
    Wish you good luck!
  • 好运。
    Wǒ xī wàng néng gěi nǐ dài lái hǎo yùn.
    I hope I can bring you good luck.
  • 好运。
    hǎo yùn Zǒng huì dài lái chéng gōng.
    Good luck always brings success.

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.

好hǎogood
运yùnluck

好运 joins 好 meaning good with 运 meaning luck, giving the sense of good fortune.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 運; 运 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòmotion
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn運yùn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 運 combines 辵, meaning motion, with 軍 to give the sound; the simplified 运 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 运 →
Appears in
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