TongTong
Sign in

面貌 (miàn mào) — (formal) face, facial features; (figurative) appearance, look, aspect (of a place, organization, etc.)

Definition

Formal/literary noun for 'face' or, more often, the 'appearance, aspect' of a place, era, or society. Lighter and broader than 面孔 (concrete face) and 容貌 (a person's looks).

noun
(formal) facefacial features(figurative) appearancelookaspect (of a place, organization, etc.)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 面貌。
    Tā de miàn mào kàn qǐ lái hěn hé ǎi.
    His face looks very kind.
  • 面貌。
    Zhè ge dì qū de miàn mào fā shēng le jù dà biàn huà.
    The appearance of this area has undergone huge changes.
  • 面貌。
    Wǒ men yào liǎo jiě zhè ge guó jiā de shè huì miàn mào.
    We need to understand the social outlook of this country.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

面miànface
貌màoappearance

面 and 貌 both refer to outward looks, so together they mean appearance or features.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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
皃皃màolooks
Sound part声符shēngfú
豹
豹bào貌
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

貌 uses 皃, an older picture of a face, to show looks, and 豹 as a sound part.

Open 貌 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6AppearanceBody Parts

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.