TongTong
Sign in

慷慨 (kāng kǎi) — generous, magnanimous; vehement, fervent

Definition

Covers two distinct meanings: 'generous, magnanimous' (esp. with money — see also 大方, 大量) and 'vehement, fervent' (of speech, feelings — close to 激烈). Context picks the sense.

adjective
generousmagnanimousvehementfervent

Examples

  • 慷慨，。
    Tā fēi cháng kāng kǎi, jīng cháng bāng zhù pín kùn xué shēng.
    He is very generous and often helps poor students.
  • 慷慨。
    Tā kāng kǎi dì juān le hěn duō qián.
    He generously donated a lot of money.
  • 慷慨。
    Tā kāng kǎi dì biǎo dá le zì jǐ de guān diǎn.
    He expressed his views vehemently.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

慷kāng
慨kǎi

慷 and 慨 do not carry separate meanings here; together they express fervent, generous emotion.

Sound-only characters

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
康
康kāng慷
Same sound today

慷 pairs 心 (heart) with 康, 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.

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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