泪人 (lèi rén) — person whose face is covered with tears; someone crying profusely

Definition

泪人 literally 'tear person' — describes someone whose face is streaming with tears. Always used after 变成, 哭成, etc. to paint the picture of someone crying hard.

noun
person whose face is covered with tearssomeone crying profusely
Easily confused

Examples

  • 泪人。
    Tā kū chéng le lèi rén.
    She cried until she became a tearful person.
  • 泪人。
    Nà ge diàn yǐng ràng wǒ biàn chéng le lèi rén.
    That movie made me into a tearful person.
  • ，泪人。
    Tā mǎn liǎn lèi shuǐ, jiǎn zhí shì gè lèi rén.
    His face was full of tears; he was simply a tearful person.

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.

泪lèitears
人rénperson

泪 names tears, and 人 names a person, giving a person covered with tears.

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 淚; 泪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
戾
戾lì淚lèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 淚 uses 水 (water) and 戾 for sound; this describes 淚, not 泪.

Open 泪 →

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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