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美观 (měi guān) — aesthetic, pleasing to the eye, beautiful (esp. of design, appearance)

Definition

Used mainly for design, layout, or appearance being visually pleasing. 美丽 is a more general 'beautiful' (people, scenery); 美观 specifically judges how something looks as a whole design.

adjective
aestheticpleasing to the eyebeautiful (esp. of design, appearance)

Examples

  • 美观。
    Zhè zuò jiàn zhù de wài guān měi guān.
    The exterior of this building is aesthetically pleasing.
  • 美观。
    Zhè ge shǒu jī de shè jì jì shí yòng yòu měi guān.
    The design of this phone is both practical and beautiful.
  • 美观。
    Zhè ge huā yuán de bù jú hěn měi guān.
    The layout of this garden is very aesthetically pleasing.

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.

美měibeautiful
观guānappearance

美 adds beauty to 观, the appearance, giving a pleasing look.

Characters in this word

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 →

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 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn觀guān
Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

Open 观 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Appearance

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