TongTong
Sign in

澄清 (chéng qīng) — (adjective) clear, limpid (of liquid); (verb) to clarify, to clear up (facts, misunderstandings, etc.)

Definition

As a verb, 澄清 means to publicly clear up a misunderstanding or state a position — narrower than 明确 ('make definite/specify'). As an adjective of liquid, it's close to 清澈 but less common.

adjective
clearlimpid (of liquid)
verb
to clarifyto clear up (facts, misunderstandings, etc.)

Examples

  • 澄清。
    Zhè tiáo hé de hú shuǐ fēi cháng chéng qīng.
    The lake water in this river is very clear.
  • 澄清。
    Tā gōng kāi chéng qīng le zì jǐ de lì chǎng.
    He publicly clarified his stance.
  • 澄清。
    Gōng sī xū yào chéng qīng zhè ge wù huì.
    The company needs to clear up this misunderstanding.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

澄chéngclear
清qīngclear

澄清 joins 澄, clear, and 清, clear, to describe limpidness or to clear up facts.

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
登
登dēng澄⁰chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

澄 pairs 氵 (water) with 登, which gives the sound; the shape is for clear water.

Open 澄 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & Speech

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