炽热
chìrè
In Chinese, 'blazing' can be expressed as 炽热 (chìrè).
炽热 is used to describe intense heat originating from physical sources, such as the sun, a fire or molten metal, rather than being used simply to describe a hot weather day.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 炽热 is composed of two parts: 炽 (chì), meaning 'blazing' or 'burning' and 热 (rè), meaning 'hot'.
Which one should you use?
炽热 describes a state of being burning hot or extremely hot, whereas 热死了 is a way to express that it is scorching hot or that one is burning up.
How do you pronounce it?
chìrè
Did you know?
- While 炽热 describes physical heat, the word 热闹 (rènao), which shares the same 'hot' character, describes a 'lively' or 'bustling' atmosphere. This suggests that in Chinese culture, a 'hot' environment is seen as a positive, crowded, and energetic one.
- While 炽热 describes physical heat, it is frequently used as a metaphor for intense passion or love, such as a 炽热的爱 ('blazing love').
- The character 炽 (chì) can be used in poetic contexts to describe a blindingly bright light rather than just physical heat. This bridges the sensation of feeling heat with the visual experience of a glare.
Examples in context
- 这个夏天非常炽热。This summer is extremely hot.
- 沙漠里的气温非常炽热。The temperature in the desert is burning hot.
- 今天天气热死了！It's scorching hot today!
- 快开空调，热死了！Turn on the air conditioning, it's burning up!
- 那团炽热的火光很耀眼。Nà tuán chìrè de huǒguāng hěn yàoyǎn.That blazing light of the fire is very dazzling.
Example conversation
Xiaowen and Wei are walking outside on a summer day.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen今天的太阳太炽热了。jīntiān de tàiyáng tài chìrè le.The sun is too blazing today.
- 伟 Wei是的，我觉得快中暑了。shì de, wǒ juéde kuài zhòngshǔ le.Yes, I feel like I'm getting heatstroke.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen我们快进阴凉处休息吧。wǒmen kuài jìn yīnliángchù xiūxi ba.Let's quickly go to a shaded area to rest.
- 伟 Wei好主意，走吧。hǎo zhǔyì, zǒu ba.Good idea, let's go.
