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浮华 (fú huá) — showy, flashy, extravagant; superficial, lacking substance

Definition

A negative-judgment adjective describing a style or lifestyle that looks lavish on the surface but lacks real substance. Often pairs with 装饰 or 生活方式, and contrasts with simple, genuine living.

adjective
showyflashyextravagantsuperficiallacking substance

Examples

  • 浮华。
    Tā xǐ huan fú huá de shēng huó fāng shì.
    He likes a flashy lifestyle.
  • 浮华。
    Zhè zhǒng fú huá de zhuāng shì ràng rén jué de hěn sú qi.
    This kind of flashy decoration feels very tacky.
  • 浮华，。
    Tā kàn tòu le fú huá, xuǎn zé le jiǎn dān de shēng huó.
    She saw through the superficiality and chose a simple life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

浮fúsuperficial
华huáshowy

浮 points to superficiality and 华 to showy brilliance, giving a sense of flashy emptiness.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐriver
Sound part声符shēngfú
孚
孚fú浮fú
Same sound today

浮 pairs 水 (river) with 孚, which gives the sound; the river part points to its meaning of floating.

Open 浮 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Open 华 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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