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清脆 (qīng cuì) — (of sound) crisp and clear, melodious, ringing; (of objects) fragile, delicate

Definition

清 mainly describes sound — clear, bright, and ringing (voices, laughter, birds). The fragile-object sense is secondary. Pairs with 悦耳 (sound) and contrasts with 脆弱 (which focuses on weakness of materials/people).

adjective
(of sound) crisp and clearmelodiousringing(of objects) fragiledelicate

Examples

  • 清脆。
    Tā de qīng cuì xiào shēng ràng rén xīn qíng yú yuè.
    Her crisp laughter makes people feel happy.
  • 清脆。
    Shān gǔ lǐ chuán lái qīng cuì de niǎo jiào shēng.
    The crisp sound of birds came from the valley.
  • 清脆。
    Zhè ge qīng cuì de bō li bēi hěn róng yì suì.
    This delicate glass cup is very easy to break.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

清qīngclear
脆cuìcrisp

清 and 脆 describe clear and crisp qualities, together meaning a bright, ringing sound.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng清qīng
Same sound today

清 has 氵 (water) on the left and 青 on the right to show its sound.

Open 清 →

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
絕
絕jué脆cuì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part ⺼, written as 肉, points to meat, and the right part 絕 gives the sound.

Open 脆 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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