TongTong
Sign in

冷面 (lěng miàn) — poker face; impassive expression; (fig.) cold front; chilly atmosphere or demeanor

Definition

'Poker face' or a cold, aloof demeanor — the focus is the emotionless expression or chilly atmosphere a person (or scene) gives off, not Korean cold noodles.

noun
poker faceimpassive expression(fig.) cold frontchilly atmosphere or demeanor

Examples

  • 冷面，。
    Tā zǒng shì yì zhāng lěng miàn, shuí yě cāi bú tòu tā de qíng xù.
    He always has a poker face; nobody can guess his mood.
  • 冷面，。
    Huì yì shì lǐ mí màn zhe lěng miàn, shuāng fāng dōu bù kěn ràng bù.
    The meeting room was filled with a cold front; neither side was willing to yield.
  • 冷面，。
    Qì xiàng yù bào shuō yì gǔ lěng miàn jí jiāng nán xià, míng tiān jiàng wēn.
    The weather forecast says a cold front is moving south; it will get colder tomorrow.

Origin

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.

冷lěngcold
面miànface

冷面 pairs 冷, cold, with 面, face, to picture an impassive expression or chilly demeanor.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng冷lěng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

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 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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