风流

風流
fēngliú
adjective HSK 7 #8,865

Meanings

  1. 1 talented and romantic
  2. 2 distinguished
  3. 3 dissolute
  4. 4 amorous

Characters

Literally 'wind flowing' — can mean elegant/talented or romantically promiscuous

Examples

Tā shì gè fēngliú rénwù.
He is a distinguished figure.
Shǔ fēngliú rénwù, hái kàn jīnzhāo.
To count the truly great, look to the present day.
Tā niánqīng shí hěn fēngliú.
He was quite dissolute when he was young.

Tips

usage
风流 has two distinct meanings depending on context. 风流人物 = distinguished/talented person (positive). 风流 describing a person's lifestyle = promiscuous/dissolute (negative).
culture
The line 风流人物 is from Mao Zedong's famous poem 'Snow' (·), meaning the truly great heroes are those of the present era.

Stroke Order

fēng
liú