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尖儿

尖兒
jiānr
noun #33,161

Meanings

  1. 1 the tip; the pointy end (of an object)
  2. 2 the cream of the crop; an outstanding person or thing
  3. 3 (in opera) a sudden high-pitched note

Examples

笔尖儿断了。
Bǐ jiānr duàn le.
The tip of the pen broke off.
他在班里是尖儿。
Tā zài bān lǐ shì jiānr.
He's at the top of the class.
演员唱到这里飙了一个尖儿，全场叫好。
Yǎnyuán chàng dào zhèlǐ biāo le yí gè jiānr, quán chǎng jiàohǎo.
When the actor hit that high note, the whole house cheered.

Tips

register
尖儿 is the erhua-suffixed (儿化) Beijing-flavored form of 尖 — colloquial, spoken, northern. Three live senses: (1) physical tip (笔尖儿 pen-tip, 鼻尖儿 nose-tip), (2) the outstanding one ('cream of the crop' — 班里的尖儿, 顶尖儿), (3) Beijing/Peking opera term for a soaring high note. The non-erhua 尖 covers the same meanings but in formal / standard register.
memory
尖 itself is a beautiful character: 小 (small) on top + 大 (big) on bottom = a shape that goes from big to small — a point. Add 儿 for the spoken Beijing 'r-ending' that turns nouns intimate and tangible: 哥哥 → 哥儿, 花 → 花儿.

Stroke Order

尖 jiān
儿 ér