adjective / noun HSK 4
Traditional 眾
many · numerous · crowd · multitude
Meaning
众 means 'many' or 'a crowd of people'. It emphasizes a large number or multitude, often referring to people collectively. The character originally depicted three people standing together, symbolizing a group or crowd.
Usage
众 is commonly used in formal or literary contexts to describe groups of people or to emphasize large quantities. It frequently appears in compounds like 群众 (the masses), 观众 (audience), and 众人 (everyone). While it can stand alone as an adjective meaning 'numerous', it more often functions as a bound morpheme in multi-character words.
Examples
- 01这件事众所周知。.This matter is known to everyone.
- 02观众对演出反应热烈。.The audience reacted enthusiastically to the performance.
Common collocations
- 众人everyone, the crowd
- 群众the masses
- 观众audience, spectators
- 众所周知as everyone knows
Antonyms
Origin
The traditional form 眾 shows three 人 (person) radicals stacked together, visually representing multiple people gathered as a crowd or multitude.