眉 méi
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 目 — eye
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
眉开眼笑
méikāiyǎnxiào
to beam with joy; all smiles
Characters in this word
开 kāi
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 廾 — two hands
- Made of
- 一 one 廾 two hands
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
眼 yǎn
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 目 — eye
- Made of
- 目 eye 艮 blunt
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
笑 xiào
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- ⺮ — bamboo
- Made of
- ⺮ bamboo 夭 young, energetic
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 收到好成绩单，孩子高兴得眉开眼笑。 Shōudào hǎo chéngjìdān, háizi gāoxìng de méikāi yǎnxiào. Receiving a good report card, the child was beaming with joy.
- 奶奶看见孙子回来，立刻眉开眼笑地迎了出来。 Nǎinai kànjiàn sūnzi huílái, lìkè méikāi yǎnxiào de yíng le chūlái. Seeing her grandson come back, Grandma immediately came out to greet him, all smiles.
- 一提到要去旅行，大家都眉开眼笑，说个不停。 Yì tídào yào qù lǚxíng, dàjiā dōu méikāi yǎnxiào, shuō ge bù tíng. At the mention of a trip, everyone beamed and chattered away.
Related words
- 眉毛 méimao eyebrow
- 愁眉苦脸 chóuméikǔliǎn to look worried; to pull a long face
- 打开 dǎkāi to open, to turn on
- 开 kāi to open; to drive; to turn on
- 开车 kāichē to drive a car
- 开会 kāihuì to have a meeting
- 开玩笑 kāiwánxiào to joke
- 分开 fēnkāi to separate; to part
- 开机 kāijī to turn on a device
- 开心 kāixīn happy
- 开学 kāixué to start school
- 离开 líkāi to leave