貌 (mào): (bound form) appearance, looks, outward form
貌 (mào) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) appearance.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 豸 (structural) and 皃 (structural). It ranks #1584 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 貌 a beast's 豸 appearance 皃; 皃 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 豸 (cat) appears in many related characters such as 豹 (bào, leopard).
Definitions
- (bound form) appearance
- looks
- outward form
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA beast's 豸 appearance 皃; 皃 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰豸皃 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 貌 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 貌
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 貌似 | mào sì | to appear to be |
| 美貌 | měi mào | good looks |
| 外貌 | wài mào | profile |
| 相貌 | xiàng mào | appearance |
| 容貌 | róng mào | one's appearance |
| 面貌 | miàn mào | face |
| 原貌 | yuán mào | the original form |
| 风貌 | fēng mào | style |
| 全貌 | quán mào | complete picture |
| 旧貌 | jiù mào | old look |
| 貌合神离 | mào hé shén lí | the appearance of unity, but divided at heart (idiom) |
| 其貌不扬 | qí mào bù yáng | (idiom) nothing special to look at |
| 地貌 | dì mào | (geology) landform |
| 体貌 | tǐ mào | appearance |
| 笑貌 | xiào mào | smiling face |
貌 appears in 40 compound words: 18 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 23 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 貌 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
the appearance of unity, but divided at heart (idiom); seeming harmony belies underlying disagreement
the appearance of unity, but divided at heart (idiom); seeming harmony belies underlying disagreement
Example Sentences
不要以貌取人，内在美比外表更重要。
Bùyào yǐ mào qǔ rén, nèizài měi bǐ wàibiǎo gèng zhòngyào.
Don't judge people by their appearance; inner beauty is more important than looks.
(侨乡新貌)潮汕油柑橄榄粿条汤受青睐 食客排长队
( qiáo xiāng xīn mào ) cháo 汕 yóu 柑 橄 榄 粿 tiáo tāng shòu qīng lài shí kè pái cháng duì
Chaoshan citrus and olive kway teow soup is favored Diners line up
...Rocha 2026 秋冬:永恆青春與美貌的冰封童話
. . . qiū dōng yǒng 恆 qīng chūn 與 měi mào de bīng fēng tóng 話
Rocha Fall/Winter 2026: A Frozen Fairy Tale of Eternal Youth and Beauty
...ayden身高直逼190cm 網民觀察樣貌指「判若兩人」?
. . . shēn gāo zhí bī 網 mín 觀 chá 樣 mào zhǐ pàn ruò 兩 rén ?
Ayden's height approaches 190cm, with netizens noting his appearance is "unrecognizable"?
...我們聽甚麼?中大教授翻查史料還原時代曲面貌
. . . wǒ 們 聽 shèn 麼 ? zhōng dà jiào shòu fān chá shǐ liào 還 yuán 時 dài qū miàn mào
... What are we listening to? A professor from CUHK researched the historical records to restore the daisy song.
黃榕外貌有變否認做醫美療程 開心被網民指跟阿儀越...
黃 榕 wài mào yǒu 變 fǒu 認 zuò 醫 měi 療 chéng 開 xīn bèi 網 mín zhǐ gēn ā 儀 yuè . . .
Banyan Wong denies having a beauty treatment and is happy with her...
不要被外貌蒙蔽了。
Bù yào bèi wàimào méngbì le.
Don't be fooled by appearances.
你回答得这么简短，不觉得有点没礼貌吗？
Nǐ huídá de zhème jiǎnduǎn, bù juéde yǒudiǎn méi lǐmào ma?
Don't you think it's rude to give people such a curt reply like that?
他的容貌改变了许多。
Tā de róngmào gǎibiàn le xǔduō.
He's changed a lot in his looks.
边吃东西边谈话是非常没有礼貌的。
Biān chī dōngxi biān tánhuà shì fēicháng méiyǒu lǐmào de.
It is rude to talk when your mouth is full.
Character Family
豸 Radical Family — Characters sharing the cat radical
Related Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 貌 (mào)?
Is 貌 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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