惊叹 (jīng tàn) — to exclaim in admiration; to gasp in surprise | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

惊叹 is a stronger, more literary 'exclaim in amazement' than 吃惊, and it focuses on admiration of something impressive rather than shock. Compared with 赞叹, it leans toward surprise + awe rather than pure praise.

verb

to exclaim in admirationto gasp in surprise

Examples

惊叹。
Guān zhòng men duì mó shù shī de biǎo yǎn jīng tàn bù yǐ.
The audience were amazed at the magician's performance.
，惊叹。
Dì yī cì kàn jiàn dà hǎi shí, tā rěn bú zhù dà shēng jīng tàn.
When he saw the sea for the first time, he couldn't help exclaiming loudly.
惊叹。
Tā de jīng zhàn jì yì lìng suǒ yǒu rén jīng tàn.
His superb skill amazed everyone.

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.

惊jīngsurprise

叹tànexclaim

惊 'surprise' and 叹 'exclaim' together mean to exclaim with surprise.

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.

忄京惊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng惊jīng

Same sound today

惊 is made from 忄 (heart) and 京, which gives the sound.

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 嘆; 叹 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 叹 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words it is 嘆; in others it is 歎.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

歎

歎tàn嘆tàn

Same sound today

The traditional form 嘆 pairs 口 (mouth) with 歎 as the sound part; it shows a mouth letting out a sigh.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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