TongTong
Sign in

激昂 (jī áng) — excited and passionate; high-spirited; roused

Definition

激昂 describes a stirring, emotionally charged mood or speech — passionate and roused, with a tone of heroic fervor. More intense and lofty than everyday words like 兴奋 ('excited').

adjective
excited and passionatehigh-spiritedroused

Examples

  • ，激昂。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, dà jiā qíng xù jī áng.
    Hearing this news, everyone was stirred up.
  • 激昂。
    Tā fā biǎo le yì piān jī áng de yǎn shuō.
    He gave an impassioned speech.
  • 激昂，。
    Zhàn shì men dòu zhì jī áng, zhǔn bèi chū fā.
    The soldiers were full of fighting spirit, ready to set off.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

激jīstirred
昂ánghigh

激 means stirred up, and 昂 means high-spirited, so together they describe passionate excitement.

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
敫
敫jiǎo激jī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 激, the 氵 side marks water, and 敫 gives the sound jiǎo; the original sense is water swashing.

Open 激 →

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
卬
卬áng昂áng
Same sound today

昂 pairs 日 (sun) with 卬, a drawing of a standing man and a kneeling man that gives the sound.

Open 昂 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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