欢呼 (huān hū) — to cheer, to acclaim, to hail | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

欢呼 is to cheer loudly and joyfully as a crowd — closer to 喝彩 ('acclaim') but louder and more emotional. Distinct from 鼓掌 (clapping) and 叫好 (shouting 'bravo').

verb

to cheerto acclaimto hail

Examples

欢呼。
Guān zhòng wèi yǎn yuán de jīng cǎi biǎo yǎn huān hū.
The audience cheered for the actors' wonderful performance.
，欢呼，。
Bǐ sài jié shù hòu, quán chǎng huān hū, zhǎng shēng bú duàn.
After the match ended, the whole venue cheered with nonstop applause.
，欢呼。
Tīng dào tā bèi lù qǔ de xiāo xi, wǒ men dōu huān hū qǐ lái.
Hearing the news that he got admitted, we all started cheering.

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.

呼hūcall out

The joy in 欢 colors the calling in 呼, producing 'to cheer'.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口乎呼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

乎

乎hū呼hū

Same sound today

呼 uses 口 (mouth) to show exhaling, calling, or shouting, and 乎 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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