惊喜 (jīng xǐ) — pleasantly surprised, delighted and surprised | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

惊喜 mixes surprise with pleasure — the event is unexpected AND feels good. 惊讶 is pure surprise (neutral or negative); 欣喜 is pure joy without the surprise element.

adjective

pleasantly surpriseddelighted and surprised

Examples

，惊喜。
Shōu dào nǐ de xìn, wǒ shí fēn jīng xǐ.
I was very pleasantly surprised to receive your letter.
惊喜。
Zhè ge jié guǒ ràng wǒ gǎn dào fēi cháng jīng xǐ.
This result made me feel extremely pleasantly surprised.
惊喜。
Tā jīng xǐ dì fā xiàn qián bāo hái zài.
She was pleasantly surprised to find her wallet still there.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

惊jīngsurprise

惊 means surprise and 喜 means joy, together naming a feeling of being pleasantly surprised.

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.

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

壴口喜

壴壴zhùdrum
口口kǒumouth

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

Appears in

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