辞藻

辭藻
cízǎo
noun #42,544

Meanings

  1. 1 flowery language; literary embellishment; rhetoric

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zhè piān wénzhāng cízǎo huálì, dàn nèiróng kōngdòng.
The essay has gorgeous rhetoric but hollow content.
HSK 7-9
Tā xiězuò bù duīqì cízǎo, pǔshí yǒulì.
His writing doesn't pile on flowery language - it's plain and powerful.

Tips

usage
Stock collocations: 辞藻华丽 ('flowery rhetoric'), 堆砌辞藻 ('to pile on flowery language', usually criticism). Native graders use 辞藻 to flag writing that's all glitter and no substance.
memory
originally means 'water plants / algae' - by extension, anything ornamental and decorative. is 'speech / writing'. So 辞藻 = the 'algae' of speech: pretty growths spread across the surface.

Stroke Order

zǎo