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Definition 2024

沉魚落雁

沉魚落雁

See also: 沉鱼落雁

Chinese

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submerge; immerse; sink; deep; profound; to lower; to drop

!fish

!

 
alight; to fall; to drop (behind); leave behind

!wild goose |- !trad. (沉魚落雁) | 沉 | 魚 | 落 | 雁 |- !simp. (沉鱼落雁) | 沉 | 鱼 | 落 | 雁 |}

Idiom

沉魚落雁

  1. (of women) extremely beautiful; drop-dead gorgeous

Etymology

From Zhuangzi ("Discussion on Making All Things Equal"):

Mao Qiang and Li Ji [two beautiful courtesans] are what people consider beautiful, but if fish see them they will swim into the depths; if birds see them, they will fly away into the air; if deer see them, they will gallop away. Among these four, who knows what is rightly beautiful in the world?

Pronunciation

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