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过人 (guò rén) — (verb) to surpass others, to excel; (attributive) outstanding, surpassing

Definition

An adjective/verb meaning 'outstanding, surpassing' — used to praise someone's abilities, skills, or qualities as better than others' (e.g. 聪明过人). More literary than 厉害, more formal than 棒.

verb
to surpass othersto excel(attributive) outstandingsurpassing

Examples

  • 过人，。
    Tā de lán qiú jì shù guò rén, hěn shǎo yǒu rén néng bǐ.
    His basketball skills surpass others — few can compare.
  • 过人，。
    Tā cōng ming guò rén, měi cì kǎo shì dōu ná dì yī.
    She is surpassingly clever and gets first in every exam.
  • 过人，。
    Tā yǒu hěn duō guò rén zhī chù, bǐ rú lǐng dǎo néng lì qiáng.
    He has many outstanding qualities, such as strong leadership.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

过guòsurpass
人rénothers

过 means to surpass and 人 means others, so 过人 is to exceed other people.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi過guò
Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 过 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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