昂 (áng): high; lofty; to hold high

Meanings

1 high; lofty; to hold high
2 expensive; costly (in compounds)

Characters

昂

áng

high; lofty; to raise (one's head)

Examples

他昂着头走了出去。

Tā áng zhe tóu zǒu le chūqù.

He walked out with his head held high.

这里的物价太昂贵了。

Zhèlǐ de wùjià tài ángguì le.

The prices here are too expensive.

他精神昂扬地走上台。

Tā jīngshén áng yáng de zǒu shàngtái.

He walked onto the stage in high spirits.

Tips

usage

昂 is rarely used alone in modern Chinese. Common compounds: 昂贵 (ángguì, expensive), 昂扬 (ángyáng, high-spirited), 昂首 (ángshǒu, to hold one's head high), 激昂 (jī'áng, impassioned).

Components

radical

日 rì

sun; day

Top sun radical 日 — a small square with a stroke inside, pictograph of the sun. Above the standing figure below, it gives 昂 the picture of the sun rising overhead: head lifted toward the morning light. The image directly supports senses like "lifted, soaring, high-spirited."

phonetic

卬 áng

to look up; raise the head (phonetic)

Bottom 卬 supplies both sound and meaning — áng exactly, picturing two facing figures with one lifting their head. Same kernel: 仰 to look up, 迎 to welcome, 抑 to suppress. With the sun above, the character means "head raised toward the sun" — uplifted, animated.