巧妙 (qiǎo miào) — ingenious; clever (of methods, designs, answers) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Used for methods, designs, or answers that are cleverly well-suited — more about apt ingenuity than raw skill. Stronger praise than 巧; unlike 狡猾 it is always positive.

adjective

ingeniousclever (of methods, designs, answers)

Examples

巧妙。
Zhè ge wèn tí yǒu yí gè qiǎo miào de jiě jué fāng fǎ.
This problem has an ingenious solution.
巧妙。
Tā de yǎn jiǎng yùn yòng le qiǎo miào de yǔ yán jì qiǎo.
Her speech employed clever language techniques.
巧妙。
Zhè ge mí yǔ de dá àn hěn qiǎo miào.
The answer to this riddle is very clever.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

妙miàowonderful

巧 and 妙 both convey cleverness and finesse, so together they describe an ingenious design.

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.

工丂巧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丂

丂kǎo巧qiǎo

Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

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

女少妙

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

少

少shǎo妙miào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

妙 combines 女, a woman, with 少, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Good & Bad

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.