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妩媚 (wǔ mèi) — (of a woman) charming, lovely, bewitchingly graceful

Definition

Literary word for feminine charm or graceful beauty — typically of a woman's looks, smile, or movements. More formal and written than the everyday 漂亮.

adjective
(of a woman) charminglovelybewitchingly graceful

Examples

  • 妩媚。
    Tā xiào qǐ lái de yàng zi shí fēn wǔ mèi.
    Her smile is very charming.
  • 妩媚。
    Nà wèi wǔ zhě de dòng zuò hěn wǔ mèi.
    That dancer's movements are very charming.
  • ，妩媚。
    Tā chuān zhuó yì xí hóng qún, xiǎn de gé wài wǔ mèi.
    She wore a red dress, appearing especially charming.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

妩wǔ
媚mèi

The characters 妩 and 媚 carry no meaning of their own here; together they spell a word for graceful charm.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
眉
眉méi媚mèi
Same sound today

媚 pairs 女 with 眉; 女 carries the meaning and 眉 gives the sound.

Open 媚 →
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