花里胡哨 (huā lǐ hú shào) — gaudy, flashy, excessively ornate (with a negat… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Colloquial adjective meaning 'gaudy and showy' in a bad way — flashy on the surface but lacking real substance or taste. Always negative, used for clothes, design, speeches, etc.

adjective

gaudyflashyexcessively ornate (with a negative connotation of bad taste)flashy but insubstantialall style and no substance

Examples

花里胡哨，。
Zhè jiàn yī fu shè jì dé tài huā lǐ hú shào le, chuān chū qù hěn sú qi.
This piece of clothing is designed too gaudily — it looks tacky to wear out.
花里胡哨，。
Tā de yǎn jiǎng suī rán huā lǐ hú shào, dàn méi yǒu rèn hé shí jì nèi róng.
His speech was flashy but had no real substance.
花里胡哨，。
Bié bǎ wǎng yè zuò dé huā lǐ hú shào de, yòng hù xū yào de shì jiǎn jié qīng xī.
Don't make the webpage too gaudy — users need simplicity and clarity.

Origin

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.

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

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 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

衤里裡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衤Written in full as衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

里

里lǐ裡lǐ

Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

古gǔ胡hú

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

胡 combines 古, which points to its sound, with ⺼ (肉), meaning meat or flesh.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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