嬉皮笑脸 (xī pí xiào liǎn) — (idiom) grinning cheekily; wearing a frivolous smile; being insincerely playful

Definition

A four-character idiom meaning 'to grin cheekily and look playful' — usually carries a negative tone, suggesting the person is not being sincere or is being inappropriate in a serious moment.

idiom
grinning cheekilywearing a frivolous smilebeing insincerely playful

Examples

  • 嬉皮笑脸，。
    Tā zǒng shì zài yán sù chǎng hé xī pí xiào liǎn de, ràng rén jué de hěn tǎo yàn.
    He always grins cheekily in serious situations, which people find very annoying.
  • 嬉皮笑脸，。
    Bié xī pí xiào liǎn le, wǒ men shuō zhèng shì ba.
    Stop grinning cheekily; let's talk about business.
  • 嬉皮笑脸，。
    Tā nà fù xī pí xiào liǎn de yàng zi, yí kàn jiù bú shì zhēn xīn de.
    The way he looks with that cheeky grin tells you he's not sincere.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
喜
喜xǐ嬉⁰xī
Same sound today

嬉 has 女 on the left and 喜 on the right; the 喜 part gives the sound and means joy.

Open 嬉 →

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

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 臉; 脸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān臉liǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 臉 combines ⺼ (肉, body part) with 僉 as a sound part; the simplified 脸 is a later abbreviation.

Open 脸 →

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