明人 (míng rén) — an honest and upright person; a discerning person

Definition

明人 refers to a person of clear judgment or integrity — literally someone who 'sees clearly.' It's a literary/formal noun, not everyday speech; common in the set phrase 明人不做暗事 ('an honest person does nothing underhanded').

noun
an honest and upright persona discerning person
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 明人，。
    míng rén Bú zuò àn shì, yǒu shén me huà jiù zhí shuō ba.
    An honest person doesn't do shady things — just say what you have to say.
  • 明人，。
    Tā shì yí wèi míng rén, kàn wèn tí zǒng néng yì zhēn jiàn xiě.
    He is a discerning person who always hits the nail on the head when analyzing issues.
  • ，明人。
    Zài shāng chǎng shàng, míng rén wǎng wǎng néng shí pò piàn jú.
    In the business world, a discerning person can often see through scams.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

明míngclear
人rénperson

A 明 clear 人 is an honest, discerning person.

Characters in this word

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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