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丽人 (lì rén) — (literary) beautiful woman; belle

Definition

Literary/formal noun for a 'beautiful woman,' mainly found in classical poetry, painting, and prose. More elegant and written than everyday words like 美女.

noun
(literary) beautiful womanbelle
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 丽人。
    Gǔ dài shī cí zhōng cháng yǐ lì rén bǐ yù měi nǚ.
    In ancient poetry, 'beautiful woman' is often used to describe a beauty.
  • 丽人，。
    Huà zhōng nà wèi lì rén, shén tài yōu yǎ.
    The beautiful woman in the painting has an elegant demeanor.
  • 丽人，。
    Tā suī fēi qīng chéng lì rén, què yě qīng xiù dòng rén.
    Though she is not a city-toppling beauty, she is still strikingly delicate.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

丽lìbeautiful
人rénperson

丽 “beautiful” + 人 “person” means a beautiful woman.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 麗; 丽 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 麗 originally showed a deer with antlers. The simplified 丽 is a later shorthand.

Open 丽 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
AppearancePeople (General)

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