感慨万千 (gǎn kǎi wàn qiān) — to be filled with a thousand thoughts and feelings; a myriad of emotions welling up

Definition

Idiom meaning 'a thousand feelings surge up at once' — stronger and more literary than just 感动, often used in writing about nostalgia, parting, or revisiting the past.

idiom
to be filled with a thousand thoughts and feelingsa myriad of emotions welling up

Examples

  • ，感慨万千，。
    Huí dào mǔ xiào, tā gǎn kǎi wàn qiān, xiǎng qǐ le xǔ duō wǎng shì.
    Returning to his alma mater, he was filled with a myriad of emotions and thought of many past events.
  • ，感慨万千，。
    Kàn dào lǎo zhào piàn, tā gǎn kǎi wàn qiān, rěn bú zhù liú xià le yǎn lèi.
    Seeing the old photos, she was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't help shedding tears.
  • ，感慨万千，。
    Lí bié zhī jì, dà jiā gǎn kǎi wàn qiān, hù xiāng yōng bào gào bié.
    At the moment of parting, everyone was filled with a myriad of emotions, hugging each other goodbye.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

感慨feelings and sighs
感gǎnfeeling慨kǎisigh
联合Side by side
万千countless
万wànten thousand千qiānthousand
联合Side by side

感慨 covers feelings and sighs, and 万千 means countless; together they describe emotions welling up.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
咸
咸xián感gǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

感 pairs 咸, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart, for feeling.

Open 感 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
既
既jì慨kǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 心 is a heart, showing the character concerns feelings; the right side 既 is used for its sound.

Open 慨 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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