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怪异 (guài yì) — (adjective) strange, weird, monstrous, eerie; (noun) strange phenomenon, weirdness

Definition

Used for things that look or feel bizarre and a bit unsettling, more intense than 怪. As a noun it means a strange phenomenon. Compared to 离奇 (bizarre events/stories) and 古怪 (eccentric people/behavior), 怪异 leans toward eerie, monstrous appearances.

adjective
strangeweirdmonstrouseerie
noun
strange phenomenonweirdness

Examples

  • 怪异，。
    Zuó wǎn tīng jiàn le yí zhèn guài yì de shēng yīn, ràng rén máo gǔ sǒng rán.
    Last night I heard a strange sound that made my hair stand on end.
  • 怪异，。
    Zhè ge chuán shuō lǐ de shēng wù zhǎng xiàng guài yì, xiàng rén yòu xiàng shòu.
    The creature in this legend looks bizarre — half human, half beast.
  • 怪异。
    Kē xué jiā shì tú jiě shì shù lín zhōng chū xiàn de guài yì.
    Scientists are trying to explain the strange phenomenon there are those strange explanations.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

怪guàiweird
异yìstrange

怪 and 异 both mean strange, so together they give a stronger sense of weirdness.

Characters in this word

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
圣
圣shèng怪guài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.

Open 怪 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 異; 异 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 異 depicts a person with a mask 田 over the face, so the face looks different. The simplified 异 is a later shorthand.

Open 异 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-95000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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