聪明

cōng ming

HSK 2.0 Level 3 HSK 3.0 Level 3 Adjective Very common

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Definitions

1. intelligent
2. clever
3. bright
4. smart
5. acute (of sight and hearing)

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Word relationships

Antonyms

1 item

• 愚蠢 yú chǔn 愚蠢 yú chǔn silly 直接反义，指缺乏智慧: silly

Related words

1 item

• 智慧 zhì huì 智慧 zhì huì wisdom 更偏向于指深刻的智慧和洞察力: wisdom

Synonyms

2 items

• 机灵 jī líng 机灵 jī líng clever 侧重于反应快，机智: clever
• 伶俐 líng lì 伶俐 líng lì clever 常用于形容小孩聪明可爱: clever

Usage notes

Collocations

常与“很”、“非常”等程度副词连用，但通常不作定语修饰“人”，可以说“他很聪明”，一般不说“一个聪明人”。

Common mistakes

学习者可能混淆“聪明”与“智慧”，后者更抽象，常用于“人生智慧”等短语。

Example Sentences

5 shown

她天生 聪明 ，学什么都快。

She is innately smart and learns everything quickly.

她既 聪明 又努力。

She is both smart and hardworking.

人类是一种 聪明 的动物。

Humans are an intelligent species of animal.

这个孩子很 聪明 。

This child is very smart.

我的孙子很 聪明 。

My grandson is very smart.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 聪明

• 事后聪明 事后聪明 shì hòu cōng ming: wise after the event (idiom); with hindsight, one should have predicted it
• 冰雪聪明 冰雪聪明 bīng xuě cōng ming: exceptionally intelligent (idiom)
• 小聪明 小聪明 xiǎo cōng ming: clever-clever
• 机关算尽太聪明，反算了卿卿性命 机关算尽太聪明，反算了卿卿性命 jī guān suàn jìn tài cōng ming , fǎn suàn le qīng qīng xìng mìng: if one is too calculating, it will be the cause of one's own undoing (famous line in \A Dream of Red Mansions\ 紅樓夢|红楼梦[hóng lóu mèng])
• 绝顶聪明 绝顶聪明 jué dǐng cōng ming: highly intelligent; brilliant
• 耍小聪明 耍小聪明 shuǎ xiǎo cōng ming: to get smart
• 聪明一世，懵懂一时 聪明一世，懵懂一时 cōng ming yī shì , měng dǒng yī shí: see 聰明一世，糊塗一時|聪明一世，糊涂一时[cōng ming yī shì , hú tu yī shí]
• 聪明一世，糊涂一时 聪明一世，糊涂一时 cōng ming yī shì , hú tu yī shí: even the wisest can have a momentary lapse in judgment (idiom)
• 聪明伶俐 聪明伶俐 cōng ming líng lì: clever and quick-witted
• 聪明反被聪明误 聪明反被聪明误 cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù: a clever person may become the victim of his own ingenuity (idiom); cleverness may overreach itself
• 聪明才智 聪明才智 cōng ming cái zhì: intelligence and wisdom
• 聪明绝顶 聪明绝顶 cōng ming jué dǐng: highly intelligent; brilliant
• 聪明过头 聪明过头 cōng ming guò tóu: too clever by half
• 自作聪明 自作聪明 zì zuò cōng míng: to think oneself clever (idiom)

Child Words of 聪明

• 明 明 míng: bright
• 聪 聪 cōng: quick at hearing