诚恳 (chéng kěn) — sincere; honest; cordial (of attitude, words, o… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

诚恳 describes a sincere, honest attitude or manner in someone's words or actions. Compared to 真诚 (more about genuine inner feeling), 诚恳 emphasizes the earnest, serious way that feeling is shown outwardly.

adjective

sincerehonestcordial (of attitude, words, or manner)

Examples

诚恳，。
Tā de pī píng hěn chéng kěn, ràng wǒ hěn gǎn dòng.
His criticism was very sincere, which moved me deeply.
诚恳。
Tā chéng kěn dì biǎo dá le zì jǐ de xiǎng fǎ.
She expressed her ideas honestly.
诚恳。
Wǒ men xū yào yì zhǒng chéng kěn de jiāo liú.
We need a kind of sincere communication.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

诚chéngsincere

恳kěnearnest

诚 means sincere and 恳 means earnest, together describing an honest, cordial attitude.

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 誠; 诚 is its simplified writing.

言成誠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

成chéng誠chéng

Same sound today

In 誠, 言 is the speech part and 成 gives the sound; this is about the traditional form 誠, not the simplified 诚.

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 懇; 恳 is its simplified writing.

貇心懇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

貇

貇kěn懇kěn

Same sound today

The traditional form 懇 pairs 貇, which gives the pronunciation, with 心 (heart); the simplified 恳 is a shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Personality & Traits

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