贵宾
guìbīn · HSK 7
guest
🎩 贵 = precious/honored + 宾 = guest, so an honored guest, a VIP
贵 is the same 贵 as in expensive or precious (贵 guì), and 宾 means guest. Stack them and you get the guest who gets the precious treatment: the VIP.
贵 — shell 贝 (money) + 中 (middle/basket)
贵 originally depicted hands holding a basket of cowrie shells (贝), which served as ancient Chinese currency. The shell radical 贝 signals connection to wealth and value. Over time it came to mean 'expensive,' 'valuable,' and by extension 'noble' or 'honored.'