靥 (yè) · dimple, small depression on the cheek when smiling

Meanings

1 dimple
2 small depression on the cheek when smiling

Characters

靥

yè

dimple

Examples

HSK 5

她笑起来有两个浅浅的酒靥。

Tā xiào qǐlái yǒu liǎng gè qiǎnqiǎn de jiǔyè.

When she smiles, two shallow dimples appear.

HSK 5

笑靥如花，让人看了心动。

Xiàoyè rú huā, ràng rén kàn le xīndòng.

Her dimpled smile is like a flower - it makes hearts skip.

Tips

register

Literary character - everyday speech says 酒窝 ('wine pit') for dimples. 靥 mostly survives in compounds like 笑靥 (dimpled smile) and 酒靥 (dimples).

culture

In 《红楼梦》 (Dream of the Red Chamber), Lin Daiyu is described as 态生两靥之愁 - 'a sorrowful air rising from her two dimples,' fixing 靥 as a marker of delicate beauty in classical Chinese literature.

Components

radical

面 miàn

face

Bottom-right face radical 面 - pictograph of a face with the eye boxed in. It marks 靥 as a feature of the face, specifically the small hollow that appears when smiling. Rare in everyday writing but treasured in classical poetry for describing a beautiful face: 笑靥 the smiling dimple.

phonetic

厌 yàn

to dislike; satisfied

Outer-top 厌 supplies the sound - yàn drifting to yè with vowel shortening. 厌 originally pictured a dog pressed under a cliff (the cliff radical 厂 wrapping the dog), giving "pressed flat, satiated." The pressed-flat sense quietly suits a dimple - a soft indentation on the cheek.