光彩照人 (guāng cǎi zhào rén) — (idiom) radiant with beauty; dazzling; brillian… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Idiom meaning 'radiantly beautiful' — used for a person (often a woman) whose appearance or presence is strikingly dazzling, more literary than 漂亮.

idiom

radiant with beautydazzlingbrilliantly impressive

Examples

，光彩照人。
Tā jīn tiān chuān zhuó yí jiàn hóng sè qún zi, zhēn shì guāng cǎi zhào rén.
She's wearing a red dress today — truly radiant.
光彩照人，。
Xīn niáng kàn qǐ lái guāng cǎi zhào rén, suǒ yǒu rén dōu bèi tā de měi mào zhèn hàn le.
The bride looked dazzling; everyone was stunned by her beauty.
光彩照人，。
Wǔ tái shàng dēng guāng xià de gē shǒu guāng cǎi zhào rén, yíng dé le guān zhòng de zhǎng shēng.
The singer under the stage lights was brilliant, winning the audience's applause.

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radiance

光guānglight彩cǎicolor

联合Coordinate

照人illuminate people

照zhàoilluminate人rénperson

动宾Verb + object

光彩照人 pictures 光彩 radiating so brightly that it 照人, illuminating people.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

采彡彩

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

灬昭照

Meaning part形符xíngfú

灬Written in full as火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

昭

昭zhāo照zhào

Same sound today

照 uses 灬, a bottom form of 火 (fire), plus 昭 for the sound.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Appears in

Appearance Idioms & Set Phrases

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