喜上眉梢

xǐshàng-méishāo

idiom #58,568

Meanings

HSK 3

他刚拿到工资，喜上眉梢地走出办公室。

Tā gāng nádào gōngzī, xǐshàng-méishāo de zǒu chū bàngōngshì.

He'd just gotten his paycheck and walked out of the office with delight written all over his face.

HSK 4

听到孙子考上大学的消息，奶奶喜上眉梢。

Tīngdào sūnzi kǎoshàng dàxué de xiāoxi, nǎinai xǐshàng-méishāo.

Hearing that her grandson got into university, Grandma was beaming with joy.

history

Found in the late-Qing novel 《儿女英雄传》: 思索良久，得了主意，不觉喜上眉梢 - 'After much thought he hit on a plan, and joy unconsciously rose to his brows.'

culture

In Chinese folk art, this is often illustrated with magpies (喜鹊) perched on plum (梅) branches - a visual pun, since 梅 (plum) sounds like 眉 (eyebrow).

喜 xǐ

上 shàng

眉 méi

梢 shāo