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绝妙 (jué miào) — extremely clever, ingenious, perfect

Definition

adjective
extremely cleveringeniousperfect

Examples

  • 绝妙。
    Zhè ge jì huà zhēn shì jué miào.
    This plan is really ingenious.
  • 绝妙。
    Tā tí chū de jiě jué fāng àn fēi cháng jué miào.
    The solution he proposed is extremely clever.
  • 绝妙。
    Tā de huí dá jué miào jí le.
    Her answer was perfect.

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.

绝juéabsolute, extreme
妙miàowonderful

绝 gives absolute or extreme, and 妙 means wonderful, so it is absolutely wonderful.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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
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.

Open 妙 →
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