📖 Meaning
Describes a woman with long, gracefully curved eyebrows like moth antennae and gleaming white teeth. It is used to praise a woman's outstanding beauty. The phrase originates from classical Chinese literary descriptions of feminine loveliness.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from the Han dynasty poet Sima Xiangru's 'Rhapsody on a Beauty' (美人赋). In the work, the author describes his eastern neighbor as a woman with lustrous cloud-like hair, long curved eyebrows, and bright white teeth. The vivid portrayal became a celebrated image of female beauty in Chinese literature and was later condensed into the four-character idiom still used today.
💡 Example Usage
壁画中的女子蛾眉皓齿，容貌十分动人。
The woman in the mural had long curved eyebrows and gleaming white teeth, her appearance truly captivating.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 蛾眉皓齿
- Pinyin: é méi hào chǐ
- Literal Translation: moth eyebrows, white teeth
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4