斐 (fěi): phonetic fei or fi

Meanings

1 phonetic fei or fi
2 (literary) rich with literary elegance
3 phi (Greek letter)

Characters

斐

fěi

literary elegance; phonetic fi/fei

Examples

斐然成章。

Fěi rán chéng zhāng.

Beautifully composed into an essay. (literary idiom)

成绩斐然。

Chéngjì fěi rán.

The achievements are remarkable.

Tips

usage

Most often seen in the literary expression 斐然 (remarkable; outstanding) or as a phonetic character in transliterated names like 斐济 (Fiji).

Components

radical

文 wén

writing; pattern; culture

Bottom 文 — originally a pictograph of crossed body markings or chest tattoos, the same root sense that gave 文 its 'pattern' and 'culture' meanings. It indexes 斐 in the patterned-cultivation family: 斑 spotted, 章 emblem, 彰 manifest. 斐 specifically means strikingly elegant or distinguished, the kind of cultured brilliance worth showing off.

phonetic

非 fēi

not; wrong (here phonetic)

Top 非 supplies the sound: fēi → fěi with the regular tone shift. Same phonetic powers 排 arrange, 徘 wander, 排 row, 啡 coffee. 非 itself pictures two opposing wings of a bird, a striking interlaced pattern. That visual rhythm carries faintly into 斐's meaning — the criss-cross weave of bold, colorful patterning.