cōng

(literary) acute (of hearing)

(bound form) clever; intelligent; sharp

ear (耳) + sound of 总 = sharp-eared, then clever

The ear radical anchors the original sense of keen hearing, which the classical mind associated with intelligence. 总 mainly contributes the cōng sound; the semantic weight rests entirely on 耳.

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EarSemantic

Words with 聪

事后聪明

shì hòu cōng ming

wise after the event (idiom); with hindsight, one should have predicted it

冰雪聪明

bīng xuě cōng ming

(idiom) exceptionally intelligent

失聪

shī cōng

to go deaf; to lose one's hearing

小聪明

xiǎo cōng ming

clever-clever

机关算尽太聪明,反算了卿卿性命

jī guān suàn jìn tài cōng ming , fǎn suàn le qīng qīng xìng mìng

if one is too calculating, it will be the cause of one's own undoing (famous line in "A Dream of Red Mansions" 紅樓夢|红楼梦[Hong2 lou2 Meng4])

自作聪明

zì zuò cōng míng

(idiom) to think oneself clever

绝顶聪明

jué dǐng cōng ming

highly intelligent; brilliant

耍小聪明

shuǎ xiǎo cōng ming

to get smart

耳聪目明

ěr cōng mù míng

sharp ears and keen eyes (idiom)

聪慧

cōng huì

bright; intelligent

聪敏

cōng mǐn

bright; sharp; quick-witted

聪明

cōng ming

intelligent; clever; bright

More characters with 耳