HSK 6 · Adjectives

名副其实 míngfùqíshí “worthy of the name” in Chinese

Traditional 名副其實

What 名副其实 means

  1. worthy of the name
  2. true to one’s name
  3. not just in name only, but also in reality (idiom)
  4. aptly named

How to say 名副其实

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale名míng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale副fù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale其qí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale实shí2nd tone, rising

名副其实 in a sentence

  1. 这里的风景真美,名副其实的“人间天堂”。

    Zhèlǐ de fēngjǐng zhēn měi, míngfùqíshí de “rénjiān tiāntáng”.

    The scenery here is beautiful; it really is “heaven on earth”.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 他是一个名副其实的足球迷。

    Tā shì yí ge míngfùqíshí de zúqiúmí.

    He’s a true football fan.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 名副其实 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 名 (míng) with each of its parts in a different colour
名míngname
  • 夕evening · xī
  • 口mouth · kǒu

Memory aidEvening 夕 and a mouth 口: in the dark you call out your name.

The character 副 (fù) with each of its parts in a different colour
副fùsecondary
  • 畐to fillSound part
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāoMeaning part

刂 hints at the meaning (knife); 畐 () hints at the sound. Compare it with fù.

The character 其 (qí) with each of its parts in a different colour
其qíhis
  • 甘sweet · gān
  • 一one · yī
  • 八eight · bā

Memory aidDrawn from a winnowing basket. That meaning moved to 箕 (jī), and 其 came to mean “its, that”.

The character 实 (shí) with each of its parts in a different colour
实shíreal
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 头head · tóu

Memory aidSimplified from 實, a house 宀 full of strings of coins: solid, real.

How to write 名副其实

名 6 strokes · 副 11 strokes · 其 8 strokes · 实 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

名副其实 (míngfùqíshí) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 名副其实 (míngfùqíshí). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 名副其实

Words with 名

Words with 副

Words with 其

Words with 实

More words: Adjectives

FAQs

名副其实 (míngfùqíshí) means “worthy of the name” or “true to one’s name”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it míngfùqíshí: míng with a 2nd tone, then fù with a 4th tone, then qí with a 2nd tone, then shí with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 名副其实 is written 名副其實. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type mingfuqishi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 名副其实 from the suggestions. Typing mingfuqishi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
名副其实 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.