心眼儿

心眼兒
xīnyǎnr
noun HSK 7

Meanings

  1. 1 mind; intention; cleverness
  2. 2 tolerance; broad-mindedness (or lack of it)

Characters

Literally 'heart-eye' — the eye of the heart, meaning one's inner mind, shrewdness, or capacity for tolerance. The suffix marks this as colloquial Beijing-style Chinese.

Examples

Zhège rén xīnyǎnr hǎo.
This person is kind-hearted.
Tā xīnyǎnr tài xiǎo le.
He's too petty.
Bié shuǎ xīnyǎnr le.
Stop playing tricks.

Tips

usage
心眼儿 changes meaning with different adjectives: 心眼儿 (kind-hearted), 心眼儿 (petty/narrow-minded), 心眼儿 (scheming/calculating), 心眼儿 (generous/easygoing). It's a very versatile and colloquial expression.

Stroke Order

xīn
yǎn
ér