欢乐 (huān lè) — joyful; happy; joyous | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A more literary, written-style 'joyful' — the standard spoken word is 快乐. 比开心更书面，常形容节日、气氛。

adjective

joyfulhappyjoyous

Examples

欢乐。
Jié rì de qì fen fēi cháng huān lè.
The festival atmosphere is very joyful.
欢乐。
Hái zi men huān lè dì chàng qǐ le gē.
The children happily started to sing.
欢乐。
Tā liǎn shàng lù chū le huān lè de xiào róng.
A joyful smile appeared on his face.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

'欢' and '乐' both mean joy, so together they describe happiness.

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 歡; 欢 is its simplified writing.

雚欠歡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

雚

雚guàn歡huān

Same sound today

The traditional form 歡 uses 雚 for the sound and 欠 for the meaning; the simplified 欢 is a later shorthand, so its parts do not carry that history.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

絲絲sīstring
木木mùwood

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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