hei2 hei3 joeng4 joeng4喜氣洋洋喜气洋洋
Jyutpinghei2 hei3 joeng4 joeng4
Yalehéi hei yèuhng yèuhng
Definition
Bursting with happiness; full of joy and high spirits.
colloquialemotionfestival
How it's used
This idiom is almost exclusively reserved for festive occasions like the Lunar New Year, weddings, or celebratory gatherings. It describes an atmosphere or a collective mood rather than just an individual's personal feeling. Using it to describe a normal, everyday happy mood can sound overly dramatic or ironic.
Examples
Seeing their whole family so full of joy, I feel very happy too.
It is the New Year, so of course one should dress in a way that radiates joy.
Related words
Common phrases
a festive and joyful atmosphere
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for a general adjective for being happy, but it carries a strong cultural connotation of communal celebration and auspiciousness. Do not use it to describe someone who is simply in a good mood on a regular Tuesday.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
