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光彩夺目 (guāng cǎi duó mù) — dazzlingly brilliant; resplendent; stunning to look at

Definition

Literary idiom for a visual display so bright and striking it seems to seize the eye — used mostly in writing, not casual speech.

idiom
dazzlingly brilliantresplendentstunning to look at

Examples

  • 光彩夺目，。
    Zhè kē zuàn shí guāng cǎi duó mù, ràng rén yí bù kāi yǎn.
    This diamond is dazzlingly brilliant; you can't take your eyes off it.
  • ，光彩夺目。
    Yè wǎn de chéng shì, ní hóng dēng guāng cǎi duó mù.
    At night, the city's neon lights are stunningly bright.
  • 光彩夺目，。
    Tā chuān le yí jiàn guāng cǎi duó mù de lǐ fú, chéng wéi quán chǎng de jiāo diǎn.
    She wore a resplendent gown and became the focus of the whole venue.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

光彩brightness and color
光guānglight彩cǎicolor
联合Coordinate
夺目seize eyes
夺duóseize目mùeye
动宾Verb + object

光彩 (brightness and color) 夺目 (seize eyes) describes dazzling brilliance.

Characters in this word

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi彩cǎi
Same sound today

彩 puts 采, which gives the sound, next to 彡, the three-stroke mark that carries the meaning.

Open 彩 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 奪; 夺 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 奪 includes 又 (a hand), 雀 (a bird), and 衣 (clothing), showing a hand seizing a bird from someone; the simplified 夺 is a later abbreviation.

Open 夺 →

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

目 began as a drawing of a human eye, turned sideways.

Open 目 →
Appears in
AppearanceIdioms & Set Phrases

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