怪杰 (guài jié) — eccentric celebrity

Definition

怪杰 (guài jié) is a written, fairly literary term for an ‘eccentric celebrity’ — a well-known figure whose odd behavior or style defines them, more formal than just calling someone 怪.

noun
eccentric celebrity

Examples

  • 怪杰。
    Zhè wèi guài jié yīn wèi nà xiē qí guài de ài hào chū le míng.
    This eccentric celebrity became famous because of those strange hobbies.
  • 怪杰。
    Méi tǐ dōu xǐ huan bào dào nà wèi guài jié de yì jǔ yí dòng.
    The media loves to report on every move of that eccentric celebrity.
  • 怪杰。
    Tā zài quān nèi bèi shì wéi yí gè zhēn zhèng de guài jié.
    He is regarded within the industry as a true eccentric celebrity.

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.

怪guàistrange
杰jiéhero

A strange hero is an eccentric celebrity.

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 →

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 傑; 杰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
桀
桀jié傑jié
Same sound today

The traditional form 傑 pairs 亻 (person) with 桀 as a sound part; the simplified 杰 is a later shorthand, so its current parts are not the original parts.

Open 杰 →

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