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尤物 (yóu wù) — (literary) extraordinary beauty; stunning woman; (rare) remarkable object; rare treasure

Definition

Literary term for an extraordinarily beautiful (or fatally alluring) person — almost always a woman. Today it often carries the darker sense of a 'femme fatale' who causes downfall, not a neutral compliment.

noun
(literary) extraordinary beautystunning woman(rare) remarkable objectrare treasure
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 尤物，。
    Tā zhēn shì tiān shēng yóu wù, zǒu dào nǎ lǐ dōu yǐn rén zhù mù.
    She is truly a natural beauty, attracting attention wherever she goes.
  • 尤物，。
    Zhè jiàn gǔ dǒng shì dāng nián jìn gòng de yóu wù, jià zhí lián chéng.
    This antique was a rare treasure presented as tribute back then, worth a fortune.
  • 尤物。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ de nǚ zhǔ jué bèi miáo shù chéng huò guó yāng mín de yóu wù.
    The female lead in the novel is described as a femme fatale whose beauty ruined kingdoms.

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.

尤yóuoutstanding
物wùthing

尤 means outstanding and 物 means thing; together they name an outstanding thing, often a rare beauty.

Characters in this word

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

尤 pictures a hand with a wart.

Open 尤 →

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
牛牛niú
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù物wù
Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Open 物 →
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