Chinese word

外星人

Pronunciation

Pinyinwài xīng rén

Meaning

  • nounalien

Example

你觉得外星人会来地球吗？nǐ jué de wài xīng rén huì lái dì qiú ma

Do you think aliens will come to Earth?

Illustration for 外星人 (alien)

More examples

最近有人声称与外星人接触过。zuì jìn yǒu rén shēng chēng yǔ wài xīng rén jiē chù guò

Recently, someone claimed to have come into contact with aliens.

Core concept

A being imagined as belonging to another world rather than to Earth, often intelligent or human-like.

Common phrases

  • 与外星人接触yǔ wài xīng rén jiē chù

    come into contact with aliens

  • 目击外星人mù jī wài xīng rén

    see an alien

Similar words

宇宙人yǔ zhòu rén: A form of intelligent life imagined as existing in the universe.
外星生命wài xīng shēng mìng: Life thought to exist beyond Earth, from tiny microbes to complex living things.
外星生物wài xīng shēng wù: A life-form imagined beyond Earth, with a physical body and its own metabolism.

Definition in Chinese

泛指存在于地球之外的生命体，尤指被想象为具有智慧或类人特征的个体；在口语中有时作为比喩使用。fàn zhǐ cún zài yú dì qiú zhī wài de shēng mìng tǐ yóu zhǐ bèi xiǎng xiàng wèi jù yǒu zhì huì huò lèi rén tè zhēng de gè tǐ zài kóu yǔ zhōng yǒu shí zuò wéi bǐ yù shǐ yòng

Word origin

外 (wài, "outside") + 星 (xīng, "star") + 人 (rén, "person") forms a transparent compound for a person from beyond Earth.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this word names a possible being, while UFO names an unexplained flying object, so an unusual sighting does not by itself prove that a being is present.

Opposites

  • 地球人dì qiú rénperson from Earthnoun

Word lists with this word