菜色 (cài sè) — famished look; haggard appearance from hunger

Definition

菜色 is a literary word for the gaunt, starving look on someone's face from going hungry. It's used in writing, not daily speech.

noun

famished lookhaggard appearance from hunger

，菜色。
Tā zhè jǐ tiān méi chī fàn, liǎn shàng chū xiàn le cài sè.
He hasn't eaten for days, and a famished look has appeared on his face.
菜色，。
Cóng tā de cài sè kě yǐ kàn chū lái, tā yǐ jīng hěn jiǔ méi chī dōng xī le.
From her famished look, you can tell she hasn't eaten for a long time.
菜色，。
Hái zi men miàn yǒu cài sè, xiǎn rán dōu è huài le.
The children had a famished look; they were obviously starving.

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.

菜càivegetable

菜 evokes a plain vegetable diet and 色 means the look it gives, so it describes a hungry, haggard face.

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.

艹采菜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.