香桃骨

xiāngtáogǔ
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 a woman's steadfast moral backbone
  2. 2 unyielding virtue beneath gentle beauty

Examples

Tā wàibiǎo róuruò, què yǒu yī fù xiāngtáogǔ.
She looks delicate on the outside, but she has an unbending spine beneath it all.
Miànduì wēibī lìyòu, tā de xiāngtáogǔ shǐzhōng wèicéng wānzhé.
In the face of threats and bribes, her steadfast integrity never bent.

Tips

memory
The image is a peach blossom (soft, fragrant) around a bone (hard, unyielding). Outward gentleness, inward steel — praising a woman whose principles don't break.

Stroke Order

xiāng
táo