Chinese word

极

Pronunciation

Pinyinjí

Meaning

  • adverbvery

Example

他极高兴。tā jí gāo xìng

He is very happy.

Illustration for 极 (very)

More examples

这道菜做得极好。zhè dào cài zuò de jí hǎo

This dish is very well made.

Core concept

Places a quality near its highest possible level, making the description notably intense.

Common phrases

  • 极其重要jí qí zhòng yào

    extremely important

  • 极好jí hǎo

    very good

  • 极大jí dà

    very large

Similar words

很hěn: Shows that a quality has a fairly high degree.
非常fēi cháng: Shows that a quality has a very high degree with strong emphasis.
特别tè bié: Highlights an unusually strong or noticeable degree of a quality.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示程度达到极端或非常明显的状态，语气通常比一般的“很”更强烈。yòng lái biǎo shì chéng dù dá dào jí duān huò fēi cháng míng xiǎn de zhuàng tài yǔ qì tōng cháng bǐ yì bān de hěn gèng qiáng liè

Word origin

极 (jí, "extreme") develops from the idea of a boundary or highest point into an adverb that places a quality at that far end of a scale.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, adjective + 极了 (jíle, "extremely") is a natural exclamatory pattern, while 极 (jí, "extreme") before an adjective often sounds more compact and written.

Other meanings

  • extremelyadverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word