Meaning
妙 describes something that is wonderfully clever, subtly ingenious, or delightfully excellent. It conveys admiration for something that strikes you as remarkably good or skillfully done, often with an element of surprise or unexpectedness.
Usage
妙 is commonly used in both spoken and written Chinese to express approval or amazement. It frequently appears in exclamations like 太妙了! (That's wonderful!) and in literary or semi-formal contexts. It's often paired with other positive adjectives or used to describe ideas, methods, solutions, or artistic works that display particular cleverness or beauty.
Examples
- 01这个主意真妙!!This idea is really wonderful!
- 02他想出了一个妙计来解决这个问题。.He came up with a clever plan to solve this problem.
Common collocations
- 妙计clever plan, brilliant strategy
- 妙语witty remark, clever saying
- 妙用ingenious use, wonderful application
- 妙不可言too wonderful for words
Antonyms
Origin
The character 妙 combines 女 (woman) and 少 (few, young), originally referring to a young woman. The meaning evolved to suggest something delicate, refined, and wonderful, perhaps reflecting classical aesthetic ideals.