怪 (guài) — (adjective) strange, odd, weird; (verb) to blame; (adverb) quite, rather (used before adjectives)
Definition
As an adjective, 怪 is a short, colloquial form of 奇怪 ('strange, odd'). As an adverb meaning 'quite, rather', it goes before an adjective (like 颇, but more spoken than written).
adjective
strangeoddweird
verb
to blame
adverb
quiterather (used before adjectives)
Examples
- 怪。Tā jīn tiān shuō de huà zhēn guài.What he said today is really strange.
- 怪，。Bié guài tā, tā bú shì gù yì de.Don't blame him — he didn't mean it.
- 怪。Zhè ge cài guài hǎo chī de.This dish is quite tasty.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.
Appears in
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