抱负 (bào fù) — ambition, aspiration (a lofty goal or ideal one… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

抱负 emphasizes lofty, long-term ambition tied to ideals or achievement. Broader and more idealistic than 志向 (a personal goal); unlike the negative 野心, it is praiseworthy.

noun

ambitionaspiration (a lofty goal or ideal one strives for)

Easily confused

报复bào fùsound-aliketo retaliate, to take revenge

Examples

抱负。
Nián qīng rén yīng dāng yǒu yuǎn dà de bào fù.
Young people should have lofty ambitions.
抱负。
Tā wèi le shí xiàn zì jǐ de bào fù fù chū le hěn duō nǔ lì.
He put in a lot of effort to realize his ambition.
抱负。
Yí gè rén de bào fù wǎng wǎng jué dìng le tā néng zǒu duō yuǎn.
A person's ambition often determines how far they can go.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

抱 “hold” and 负 “carry” together suggest holding and carrying a lofty goal.

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.

扌包抱

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

包

Same sound today

抱 pairs 扌 (hand) with 包; the hand part shows holding, while 包 supplies the sound and the sense of wrapping.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 負; 负 is its simplified writing.

⺈人rénperson
貝貝bèicowry

The traditional form 負 combines 人 (person) and 貝 (cowry), with 人 written as ⺈; the simplified 负 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Abstract Concepts Will & Intention

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