文雅 (wén yǎ) — elegant; refined | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refined and tasteful in speech, manners, or style — describes a person's bearing or aesthetic choices. Lighter and more personal than 高雅 (elevated taste in art/setting) and 优雅 (graceful, often physical).

adjective

elegantrefined

Examples

文雅。
Tā de tán tǔ fēi cháng wén yǎ.
Her speech is very refined.
文雅，。
Zhè wèi xué zhě wèi rén wén yǎ, shēn shòu zūn jìng.
This scholar is refined in character and deeply respected.
文雅。
Zhè jiā cān tīng de zhuāng shì fēng gé shí fēn wén yǎ.
The decoration style of this restaurant 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.

文wénrefined

雅yǎelegant

文雅 pairs 文, cultured refinement, with 雅, elegance, to mean polished behavior.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

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

隹牙雅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

隹隹zhuīa short-tailed bird

Sound part声符shēngfú

牙

牙yá雅yǎ

Same sound today

雅 pairs 隹, a short-tailed bird, with 牙 as its sound part; the bird was a rook/crow, and the sense was extended to refined.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Personality & Traits

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