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鬼脸 (guǐ liǎn) — funny face; grimace (an exaggerated facial expression); play mask (a mask with exaggerated or comical features)

Definition

Literally 'ghost face': a deliberately exaggerated funny face you make or a comical mask you wear — the action 做鬼脸 means making faces / grimacing, while 戴鬼脸 refers to the costume mask.

noun
funny facegrimace (an exaggerated facial expression)play mask (a mask with exaggerated or comical features)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Xiǎo nǚ hái xǐ huan duì jìng zi zuò guǐ liǎn.
    The little girl likes to make funny faces at the mirror.
  • ，鬼脸。
    Tā cháng le yì kǒu kǔ guā, lì kè zuò chū le guǐ liǎn.
    He tasted a piece of bitter melon and immediately made a grimace.
  • ，鬼脸。
    Wàn shèng jié nà tiān, hái zi men dōu dài zhe guǐ liǎn.
    On Halloween, all the children wore play masks.

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.

鬼guǐghost
脸liǎnface

鬼 gives the face a ghostly, exaggerated look, and 脸 names the face.

Characters in this word

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →

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 臉; 脸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān臉liǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 臉 combines ⺼ (肉, body part) with 僉 as a sound part; the simplified 脸 is a later abbreviation.

Open 脸 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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