开心 (kāi xīn) — happy, joyful, delighted

Definition

开心 (kāixīn) is the everyday, casual 'happy' — common in speech for a bright, cheerful mood, like 高兴 but a touch lighter and more colloquial. More formal/literary alternatives include 快乐, 愉快, and 喜悦.

adjective

happyjoyfuldelighted

Examples

开心。
Tā jīn tiān hěn kāi xīn.
She is very happy today.
开心。
Wǒ men wán dé kāi xīn jí le.
We had a great time.
，开心。
Tā kǎo shì kǎo dé hěn hǎo, hěn kāi xīn.
He did well on the exam and is very happy.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāiopen

心xīnheart

“开” means to open and “心” means heart, giving the sense of an opened heart and happiness.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

門一廾開

門門méndoor
一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →