When talking about how things look, we can use terms such as ”辣眼睛 (làyǎnjīng)”, or “spicy eyes” to describe something awful or we can use a term to rate how good-looking someone or something is using “颜值 (yánzhí)” which is much different from commenting on a woman’s beauty, however. “颜值 (yánzhí)” is a common way to rate how attractive people look according to varying degrees. We’ll examine this word and the phrases that evolved from it and by the end of this article you should be able to express how attractive your celebrity crush is!
颜 (Yán): face.
值 (Zhí): value; price.
颜值 (Yánzhí): the literal meaning is the value of a person’s face but in this instance, we use it to mean the rating of how attractive someone’s face is.
Generally speaking, celebrities’ range of ”颜值 (yánzhí)” fluctuates depending on what stage in their career they are. In Leonardo DiCaprio’s case, his ”颜值 (yánzhí)” ranges from Romeo and Juliet charming to The Great Gatsby captivating. We can emphasize his attractiveness score by saying:
Leonardo de yánzhí zhēn gāo a!
莱昂纳多 的 颜 值 真 高 啊！
What a charming guy Leonardo is!
“颜值 (Yánzhí)” originally referred to how good-looking a person is but gradually evolved into more uses like “颜值高 (yánzhí gāo)” and “颜值爆表 (yánzhí bàobiǎo)”.
颜值高 (Yánzhí gāo): charming, handsome, good-looking.
If you follow soccer or are old enough to remember who The Spice Girls are you will definitely know who David and Victoria Beckham are. Their gene pool is glorious!
Bèi kè hàn mǔ yìjiā de yánzhí dōu hěn gāo.
贝 克 汉 姆 一家的 颜 值 都 很 高。
The members of the Beckham family have good-looking faces.
Since not everyone has the same opinion, take a moment to think of an impossibly perfect person.
Nǐ juédé nǎge míngxīng de yánzhí bàobiǎo?
你 觉得 哪个 明 星 的 颜 值 爆 表？
Which celebrity do you think is smoking hot?
To describe this person you have come up with in your imagination, we’ll use: “颜值爆表 (yánzhí bàobiǎo)” to emphasize just how drop-dead gorgeous or smoking hot they are.
This expression has evolved over time to apply to inanimate objects as well. It can be used to describe something aesthetically pleasing, such as a sleek cell phone:
Zhè kuǎn shǒujī jiǎnzhí shì yánzhí bàobiǎo le.
这 款 手 机 简 直 是 颜 值 爆 表 了。
This phone is amazingly beautiful.
What other ways could you use “颜值高 (yánzhí gāo)” and “颜值爆表 (yánzhí bàobiǎo)”?
Mention in the comments who your celebrity crush is using today’s key phrases.
Tā de yánzhí nàme ____ , yídìng yǒu hěnduō rén zhuīqiú.
他 的 颜 值 那 么 ____ ，一定 有 很 多 人 追 求。
A. 高 (Gāo)
B. 大 (Dà)
C. 小 (Xiǎo)
D. 低 (Dī)