聰[聪] cōng
: intelligent; wise; sharp-witted; quick @ hearing
Kun Reading
none applicable
On Reading
そう sou
聰明cong1ming: acute (of sight & hearing); clever; intelligent; smart
[そうめい soumei: wisdom; sagacity]
聰明伶俐cong1ming ling2li4: clever and quick-witted
聰慧cong1hui4: bright; witty; intelligent
聰敏cong1min3: quick; bright; intelligent
[敏い | さとい: smart; sensitive; discerning]
失聰shi1cong1: to go deaf/lose hearing
Chinese idiom
聰明絕頂 [聪明绝顶] cong1ming jue2 ding3
:highly intelligent
聰明過頭 [聪明过头] cong1ming guo4 tou2
: too clever by half; excessive ingenuity (sarcasm): too clever for his/her own good
冰雪聰明 bing1 xue3 cong1 ming5
exceptionally intelligent
自作聰明 zi4 zuo4 cong1ming
: to think oneself clever: self-styled genius; a smart aleck
聰明反被聰明誤 [聪明反被聪明误] cong1ming fan3 bei4 cong1ming wu4
: a clever person may become the victim of his own ingenuity: cleverness may overreach itself; too smart for one’s own good
形声 Pictophonetic.
耳 (er3: ear) suggests the meaning while
悤 (cong1: hurried) provides the sound.
nb: 聰 cong1 originally meant “to be quick of hearing, to be quick of apprehension” from which it came to mean “quick of understand, thus intelligent.”
簡體 Simplified
聪. Created as unique simplification #41 (聰 » 聪).
Historical Variant:
聡
Examples:
不要太自作聰明！
bu4yao4 tai4 zi4zuo4 cong1ming
Don’t be too presumptuous! (Don’t be a smart aleck!)
Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary
