羞花閉月

Chinese

		shy; ashamed; shame shy; ashamed; shame; bashful	flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern	to close; stop up; shut to close; stop up; shut; obstruct	moon; month
trad. (羞花閉月)		羞	花	閉	月
simp. (羞花闭月)		羞	花	闭	月

Etymology

Refers to two of the Four Beauties of Chinese legends, Yang Guifei (whose appearance made flowers hide away in shame) and Diao Chan (whose appearance had the same effect on the moon).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiūhuābìyuè

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄡ ㄏㄨㄚ ㄅㄧˋ ㄩㄝˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiūhuābìyuè
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄡ ㄏㄨㄚ ㄅㄧˋ ㄩㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siouhuabìyuè
    • Wade–Giles: hsiu¹-hua¹-pi⁴-yüeh⁴
    • Yale: syōu-hwā-bì-ywè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiouhuabihyueh
    • Palladius: сюхуабиюэ (sjuxuabijue)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵ xu̯ä⁵⁵ pi⁵¹⁻⁵³ ɥɛ⁵¹/

Idiom

羞花閉月

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

Synonyms

• 閉月羞花／闭月羞花 (bìyuèxiūhuā)
• 沉魚落雁／沉鱼落雁 (chényúluòyàn)
• 花容月貌 (huāróngyuèmào)