阔少 (kuò shǎo) — rich young man, son of a wealthy family

Definition

A colloquial, slightly negative term for a young man from a rich family who spends lavishly — more pointed than the neutral 富二代.

noun

rich young manson of a wealthy family

Measure word · 个

阔少。
Nà ge kuò shǎo měi tiān kāi pǎo chē shàng xué.
That rich young man drives a sports car to school every day.
，阔少。
Tā jiā lǐ hěn yǒu qián, shì gè diǎn xíng de kuò shǎo.
His family is very rich; he's a typical rich young man.
阔少。
kuò shǎo Men jīng cháng zài gāo jí cān tīng chī fàn.
Rich young men often eat at high-end restaurants.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

少shǎoyoung man

阔 (wealthy) + 少 (young man) gives a wealthy young master.

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 闊; 阔 is its simplified writing.

門活闊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

門門méngate; door

Sound part声符shēngfú

活

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

The traditional form 闊 shows 門, a gate or door, with 活, which gives the sound; the simplified 阔 is a later shorthand.

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

The form 少 is drawn as four dots, perhaps three grains of sand, to indicate a few or a little.