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优美 (yōu měi) — graceful, elegant, fine

Definition

优美 describes graceful, flowing beauty — used for movement (舞姿), scenery, and language. Compared to 优雅 (more about refined manner) and 高雅 (taste/artistic taste), 优美 emphasizes soft, natural grace.

adjective
gracefulelegantfine

Examples

  • 优美。
    Tā de wǔ zī fēi cháng yōu měi.
    Her dancing posture is very graceful.
  • 优美。
    Zhè zuò gōng yuán de jǐng sè hěn yōu měi.
    The scenery in this park is very beautiful.
  • 优美。
    Zhè shǒu shī de yǔ yán shí fēn yōu měi.
    The language of this poem is very elegant.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

优yōuexcellent
美měibeautiful

优 (excellent) and 美 (beautiful) combine to describe graceful elegance.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 優; 优 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
憂
憂yōu優yōu
Same sound today

The traditional form 優 combines 亻 (人, person) with 憂 for the sound; the simplified 优 is a later abbreviation.

Open 优 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Appearance

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