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艳丽 (yàn lì) — (of colors, flowers, clothing) gorgeous, strikingly beautiful; (sometimes derogatory) gaudy, garish but attractive

Definition

艳丽 describes striking, vivid colors or clothing — can imply 'gorgeous' or, with excessive use, 'gaudy/garish'. Stronger and showier than 亮丽 (bright and pretty); 华丽 is more about ornate splendor than color.

adjective
(of colors, flowers, clothing) gorgeousstrikingly beautiful(sometimes derogatory) gaudygarish but attractive

Examples

  • 艳丽。
    Tā de qún zi yán sè hěn yàn lì.
    The color of her skirt is gorgeous.
  • 艳丽。
    Zhè jiā cān tīng de zhuāng xiū yǒu diǎn guò yú yàn lì le.
    The decoration of this restaurant is a bit too showy.
  • 艳丽，。
    Zhè fú huà yòng le tài duō yàn lì de yán sè, wǒ bú tài xǐ huan.
    This painting uses too many garish colors; I don't really like it.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

艳yàngorgeous
丽lìbeautiful

艳丽 joins 艳 and 丽, both describing bright beauty, to mean gorgeous.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 豔; 艳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
豐豐fēngabundant, great
Sound part声符shēngfú
盇
盇hé豔yàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 豔 pairs 豐 (abundant, great) with a sound component 盇; the simplified 艳 is a later abbreviation.

Open 艳 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 麗; 丽 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 麗 originally showed a deer with antlers. The simplified 丽 is a later shorthand.

Open 丽 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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