chī
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) ugly (of a woman); the opposite of 妍 (beautiful)

Examples

Míngjìng bǎ měichǒu zhào de qīngqīngchǔchǔ.
A bright mirror shows beauty and ugliness exactly as they are.

Tips

history
is a classical word for an ugly woman, almost always paired with its opposite (beautiful) as 妍媸 ('beauty and ugliness'). It is not used independently in modern Chinese, which says . Built on the woman radical .
register
Classical and literary only. Use in modern Chinese.

Components

radical
woman; female
The 'woman' radical fits a word describing a woman's looks and is the indexing radical of .
phonetic
chī
a worm; foolish
The element supplies the sound chī and a faint negative flavor (it also means 'foolish'), reinforcing the unflattering sense of .

Stroke Order

chī