昂 (áng): high; lofty; to hold high

Meanings

1 high; lofty; to hold high
2 expensive; costly

Characters

昂

áng

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

Examples

HSK 2

他昂着头走了出去。

Tā áng zhe tóu zǒu le chūqù.

He walked out with his head held high.

HSK 5

这里的物价太昂贵了。

Zhèlǐ de wùjià tài ángguì le.

The prices here are too expensive.

HSK 7-9

他精神昂扬地走上台。

Tā jīngshén ángyáng de zǒushàng tái.

He walked onto the stage in high spirits.

Tips

usage

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