乖巧 (guāi qiǎo) — (of children or small animals) well-behaved and clever; lovable and cute

Definition

乖巧 is used mainly for children or pets who are well-behaved AND lovable — a single warm word for 'good and cute'. It pairs 可爱 with obedient behavior; 淘气 is its opposite.

adjective
(of children or small animals) well-behaved and cleverlovable and cute

Examples

  • 乖巧,。
    Xiǎo míng zài xué xiào hěn guāi qiǎo, lǎo shī jīng cháng biǎo yáng tā.
    Xiao Ming is very well-behaved and clever at school; the teacher often praises him.
  • 乖巧,。
    Zhè zhī xiǎo māo tè bié guāi qiǎo, cóng lái bù zhuā shā fā.
    This kitten is especially cute and well-behaved; it never scratches the sofa.
  • 乖巧,。
    Tā xìng gé guāi qiǎo, dà jiā dōu hěn yuàn yì hé tā yì qǐ wán.
    Her personality is lovable and pleasant; everyone is happy to play with her.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

乖guāiwell-behaved
巧qiǎoclever

乖 (well-behaved) and 巧 (clever) together describe someone pleasing because obedient and quick-witted.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 乖 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo巧qiǎo
Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

Open 巧 →

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