jiā
adjective #4,388

Meanings

  1. 1 beautiful; fine
  2. 2 good; excellent

Examples

Chéngjì bù jiā.
The results are not good.
Jiājié kuàilè!
Happy festival!

Tips

culture
Literary/formal word for good; 最佳 = best, 佳节 = joyous festival.

Components

radical
rén
person (radical)
Left person radical — the side-stacking form of . Pictures a standing figure in profile. Anchors in human-quality words: a person who is fine/excellent, hence the meaning 'good, beautiful, admirable'. Same family: (excellent), (handsome), (strong).
phonetic
guī
jade tablet
Right supplies the sound — guī drifted to jiā, an irregular but historically attested shift. is a ceremonial jade tablet (two stacked, an etched stone of rank), so the right side also faintly suggests preciousness — fitting for a 'fine' person. Same phonetic family: (jiē, street), (wā, frog), (guà, hang).

Stroke Order

jiā