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超凡 (chāo fán) — (v.p.) to be out of the ordinary; extraordinary; uncommon; (v.p.) to transcend the worldly; to be sublime or immortal

Definition

超凡 means 'transcendent, beyond the ordinary' — usually spiritual or artistic greatness, stronger than 优秀. Almost always paired with 脱俗 as the set phrase 超凡脱俗.

verb
(v.p.) to be out of the ordinaryextraordinaryuncommon(v.p.) to transcend the worldlyto be sublime or immortal

Examples

  • 超凡，。
    Tā de cái huá chāo fán, nián jì qīng qīng jiù qǔ dé le jù dà chéng jiù.
    His talent is extraordinary — he achieved great success at a young age.
  • 。
    Zhè fú huà chuán dá le yì zhǒng chāo fán tuō sú de yì jìng.
    This painting conveys a spiritual realm that is transcendent and free from vulgarity.
  • ，超凡。
    Jīng guò duō nián xiū xíng, tā de jīng shén jìng jiè yǐ jīng chāo fán.
    After years of spiritual practice, his mental state has already transcended the ordinary.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

超chāotranscend
凡fánordinary

超 going beyond 凡, the ordinary or mundane, gives the sense of extraordinary or transcendent.

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
走走zǒurun
Sound part声符shēngfú
召
召zhào超chāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

超 pairs 走, meaning “run,” with 召, which gives the sound.

Open 超 →

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

Open 凡 →
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