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兴高采烈

xìng gāo cǎi liè

in high spirits

Character by character

兴xìng
spirits
高gāo
high
采cǎi
colour
烈liè
intense

Example

孩子们兴高采烈地去春游。
The children set off on their spring outing in high spirits.

Tone: positive (praise).

Usage and origin

兴 is xìng; from Liu Xie's 《文心雕龙》, where it praised Ji Kang's lofty, vivid writing.

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