雕琢

diāozhuó

verb #26,124

Meanings

1 to sculpt
2 to carve (jade or stone)
3 to polish (writing)
4 overly ornate; overwrought (of prose)

Characters

to carve; to engrave; to sculpt

to polish (jade); to work carefully

Examples

工匠花了数月精心雕琢这块玉石。

Gōngjiàng huā le shù yuè jīngxīn diāozhuó zhè kuài yùshí.

The craftsman spent months carefully carving this piece of jade.

他的文章过于雕琢，读起来不自然。

Tā de wénzhāng guòyú diāozhuó, dú qǐlái bù zìrán.

His article is overly ornate and reads unnaturally.

好的诗歌需要反复雕琢才能完美。

Hǎo de shīgē xūyào fǎnfù diāozhuó cái néng wánměi.

Good poetry requires repeated polishing to be perfect.

Tips

usage

雕琢 can be neutral (careful crafting) or negative (overly fussy, lacking naturalness). Context determines the connotation. In literary criticism it often implies that writing is too decorated and loses authenticity.

Stroke Order

雕 diāo

琢 zhuó