长相 (zhǎng xiàng) — looks, appearance (of a person's face)

Definition

长相 refers specifically to a person's facial looks. It overlaps with 外貌, 相貌, and 容貌, but 长相 is the most colloquial and everyday of this set.

noun

looksappearance (of a person's face)

长相，。
Tā zhǎng xiàng qīng xiù, ràng rén kàn le hěn shū fu.
She has delicate features that make people feel at ease.
长相，。
Liǎng gè rén zhǎng xiàng hěn xiàng, dà gài shì xiōng dì ba.
The two look very similar in appearance; they're probably brothers.
，长相。
Rén dào zhōng nián, zhǎng xiàng huì màn màn fā shēng biàn huà.
When people reach middle age, their appearance gradually changes.

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.

相xiāngappearance

长相 can be understood as the 相 (appearance) associated with how a person 长 (grows), hence one's looks.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

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

木目相

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Appears in