惬意 (qiè yì) — pleasant and comfortable; contented and relaxed

Definition

惬意 describes a mood of being physically and mentally at ease — pleasant comfort, not just satisfaction with a result (满意).

adjective

pleasant and comfortablecontented and relaxed

，惬意。
Zuò zài hǎi biān hē kā fēi, zhēn shì qiè yì.
Sitting by the sea drinking coffee is truly pleasant and relaxing.
惬意，。
Tā xǐ huan qiè yì de zhōu mò, shén me dōu bú zuò.
He enjoys a leisurely weekend, doing nothing at all.
惬意，。
Zhè ge xiǎo zhèn de shēng huó hěn qiè yì, ràng rén bù xiǎng lí kāi.
Life in this small town is so comfortable that people don't want to leave.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

惬qièsatisfy

惬 (satisfy) and 意 (mind) combine as satisfying one's mind, giving contentment.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 愜; 惬 is its simplified writing.

忄匧愜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

匧

匧qiè愜qiè

Same sound today

The traditional form 愜 pairs 忄 (heart) with 匧 as the sound part; the simplified 惬 is a later shorthand, so this story is about 愜.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in