Meaning of 脸色
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- complexion
- look
How to use 脸色
脸色 is used for how healthy someone looks and for the mood showing on their face. It often pairs with 好 (hǎo), 不好 (bù hǎo), 难看 (nánkàn), or 苍白 (cāngbái). Example: 你今天脸色不太好。(Nǐ jīntiān liǎnsè bú tài hǎo.) You don't look so well today.
脸 (liǎn) means face and 色 (sè) means color, so 脸色 is literally the color of your face. Think of how a face turns pale when sick or red when angry, and you have both meanings: complexion and facial expression.
Common mistake: Learners often write 脸 with the wrong right side or confuse it with 险 (xiǎn, danger), which shares the same right part but has 阝 on the left instead of 月. Also remember 脸 is third tone, liǎn, not lián.
脸色 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
脸 liǎn · face · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
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- 11
色 sè · color · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
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- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 脸色.
| 颜色 | yánsè | color; countenance |
| 红色 | hóngsè | red (color); revolutionary |
| 黑色 | hēisè | black |
| 蓝色 | lánsè | blue (color) |
| 白色 | báisè | white; fig. reactionary |
| 绿色 | lǜsè | green |
| 黄色 | huángsè | yellow; vulgar; lewd; pornographic |
| 景色 | jǐngsè | scenery; landscape; view |
| 特色 | tèsè | a characteristic; a distinctive feature or quality |
| 彩色 | cǎisè | color; multicolored |
| 角色 | juésè | role; part (in a play or movie etc); also pr. [jiao3se4] |
| 出色 | chūsè | remarkable; outstanding |
Questions about 脸色
What does 脸色 mean?
脸色 (liǎnsè) means "complexion; look" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 脸色?
脸色 is made of 2 characters: 脸 (11 strokes), 色 (6 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 脸色 an HSK word?
Yes. 脸色 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 脸色 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 脸色 is written 臉色.
What does 看别人的脸色 mean?
看脸色 (kàn liǎnsè) means to watch someone's expression to judge their mood, usually because you depend on them. 看别人的脸色 suggests living cautiously under someone else's control, like an employee always reading the boss's mood.
Is 脸色 the same as 颜色?
No. 颜色 (yánsè) is the everyday word for color in general, like the color of a shirt. 脸色 only refers to a person's face, meaning their complexion or the expression they show.