(jìng) — beautiful, attractive (bound form, used in compounds)

Definition

靓 (jìng) is a bound, written/literary form meaning 'beautiful' — it never stands alone, only in compounds like 靓丽, 靓妆. Far more formal than the everyday 漂亮.

bound form
beautifulattractive (bound form, used in compounds)

Examples

  • Tā chuān le yí jiàn jìng lì de qún zi.
    She wore a beautiful dress.
  • Zhè fú huà sè cǎi jìng lì, fēi cháng piào liang.
    This painting has beautiful colors, very lovely.
  • Tā xǐ huan jìng zhuāng, měi cì chū mén dōu dǎ bàn dé hěn jīng zhì.
    She likes fine dressing; every time she goes out she is exquisitely dressed.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 靚; 靓 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
jiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
qīngjìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 靚 combines 見, the seeing part, with 青 as its sound; the simplified 靓 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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