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开朗 (kāi lǎng) — (of space, weather) bright and spacious, open and clear; (of personality) cheerful, optimistic, outgoing, open-minded

Definition

开朗 describes an outgoing, optimistic personality (性格开朗) — more about being sociable and open than 乐观 (which is just an optimistic outlook) or 外向 (a personality-type label). It can also mean bright and spacious, like a room or the weather.

adjective
(of space, weather) bright and spaciousopen and clear(of personality) cheerfuloptimisticoutgoingopen-minded

Examples

  • 开朗，。
    Tā xìng gé kāi lǎng, dà jiā dōu xǐ huan hé tā zuò péng you.
    He has an outgoing personality; everyone likes to be friends with him.
  • ，开朗。
    Zhè jiān bàn gōng shì chuāng hu hěn dà, fēi cháng kāi lǎng.
    This office has big windows, so it's very bright and spacious.
  • 开朗，。
    Tiān qì kāi lǎng de shí hou, wǒ men qù gōng yuán sàn bù.
    When the weather is clear and pleasant, we go for a walk in the park.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

开kāiopen
朗lǎngbright

开 means open, and 朗 means bright, so it describes a cheerful, open mind.

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 →

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
月月yuèmoon
Sound part声符shēngfú
良
良liáng朗lǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

朗 pairs 月, the moon, with 良 as a sound part.

Open 朗 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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