满面春风 (mǎn miàn chūn fēng) — beaming with happiness; radiant with joy; having a cheerful expression

Definition

A vivid chengyu literally meaning 'spring breeze across the whole face' — used for someone whose face radiates joy or satisfaction. More literary and emphatic than the plain phrase 很高兴.

idiom
beaming with happinessradiant with joyhaving a cheerful expression

Examples

  • 满面春风，。
    Tā jīn tiān mǎn miàn chūn fēng, yí dìng shì shēng zhí le.
    He's beaming with happiness today — he must have gotten a promotion.
  • 满面春风，。
    Kàn dào tā mǎn miàn chūn fēng dì zǒu jìn jiào shì, dà jiā jiù zhī dào yǒu hǎo xiāo xi.
    Seeing her walk into the classroom all radiant, everyone knew there was good news.
  • 满面春风，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo jiào shòu mǎn miàn chūn fēng, hé xué shēng men yú kuài dì jiāo tán.
    The elderly professor, beaming with joy, chatted happily with the students.

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.

满面face full
满mǎnfull面miànface
偏正Modifier + head
春风spring breeze
春chūnspring风fēngwind
偏正Modifier + head

满面, the face full, and 春风, spring breeze, suggest a face radiant like spring breeze.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 滿; 满 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒼
㒼㒼滿mǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 滿 pairs 水, showing water, with 㒼, giving the sound. The simplified 满 is a later shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 满 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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