美 (měi): (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲), (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国), beautiful
美 (měi) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) the americas (abbr. for 美洲).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 羊 (structural) and 大 (structural). It ranks #151 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 美 a person 大 wearing an elegant crown 羊. Its radical form 羊 (sheep) appears in many related characters such as 羊 (yáng, sheep), 群 (qún, group), 羞 (xiū, shy).
Definitions
- (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲)
- (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国)
- beautiful
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 大 wearing an elegant crown 羊
Decomposition: ⿱羊大 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 美 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 美
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 完美adjective | wán měi | perfect | 5 |
| 美丽adjective | měi lì | beautiful | 4 |
| 美好adjective | měi hǎo | beautiful | 4 |
| 美味noun | měi wèi | delicious | 5 |
| 美食noun | měi shí | culinary delicacy | 4 |
| 优美adjective | yōu měi | graceful | 5 |
| 美术noun | měi shù | art | 5 |
| 精美adjective | jīng měi | exquisite | 6 |
| 美景noun | měi jǐng | beautiful scenery | 4 |
| 南美洲noun | nán měi zhōu | South America | 6 |
| 北美洲noun | běi měi zhōu | North America | 6 |
| 美观adjective | měi guān | pleasing to the eye | 6 |
| 审美 | shěn měi | esthetics | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 美国 | měi guó | United States |
| 美女 | měi nǚ | beautiful woman |
| 美金 | měi jīn | US dollar |
| 美妙 | měi miào | beautiful |
| 美分 | měi fēn | one cent (United States coin) |
| 美军 | měi jūn | US army |
| 美貌 | měi mào | good looks |
| 美容 | měi róng | to improve one's appearance (using cosmetics or cosmetic surgery) |
| 美人 | měi rén | beautiful woman |
| 北美 | běi měi | North America |
| 美满 | měi mǎn | happy |
| 美酒 | měi jiǔ | good wine |
| 美德 | měi dé | virtue |
| 美发 | měi fà | hairdressing |
| 拉美 | lā měi | Latin America |
美 appears in 100 compound words: 64 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 2 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 美 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (24)
indescribably beautiful; too many beautiful things to be fully appreciated all at once
Showing 12 of 24 idioms containing 美.
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了美字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le měi zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "美" in the dictionary.
...走基层·春节我在岗”这个春节,她的身影真美!
. . . zǒu jī céng chūn jié wǒ zài gǎng zhè gè chūn jié , tā de shēn yǐng zhēn měi !
... I am on duty during the Spring Festival at the grassroots level" This Spring Festival, her figure is so beautiful!
美国向联合国支付1.6亿美元部分欠款,仅为...
měi guó xiàng lián gě guó zhī fù 1 . 6 yì měi yuán bù fēn qiàn kuǎn , jǐn wéi . . .
The United States pays the United Nations $160 million in partial arrears, only...
美国12月实际个人消费支出月率 0.1%,...
měi guó 1 2 yuè shí jì gè rén xiāo fèi zhī chū yuè lǜ 0 . 1 , . . .
US real personal consumption expenditures in December at 0.1% month-on-month,...
美国这座机场要改名“唐纳德·特朗普国际机场...
měi guó zhè zuò jī chǎng yāo gǎi míng táng nà dé tè lǎng pǔ guó jì jī chǎng . . .
The airport in the United States will be renamed "Donald Trump International Airport...
...朗普向伊朗下最后通牒:伊朗15天内必须与美国达成..
. . . lǎng pǔ xiàng yī lǎng xià zuì hòu tōng 牒 : yī lǎng 1 5 tiān nèi bì xū yǔ měi guó dá chéng . .
... Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran: Iran must reach an agreement with the United States within 15 days:
你对美国印象如何？
Nǐ duì Měi guó yìnxiàng rúhé?
What is your impression of America?
美丽的夕阳，不是吗？
Měilì de xīyáng, bùshìma?
A beautiful sunset, isn't it?
谁画了这幅美丽的图画？
Shéi huà le zhè fú měilì de túhuà?
Who painted this beautiful picture?
中国与美国隔着哪个大洋？
Zhōngguó yǔ Měiguó gé zhe nǎge dàyáng?
Which ocean separates China and America?
Character Family
羊 Radical Family — Characters sharing the sheep radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 美 (měi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 美 and 恶?
How many strokes does 美 have?
What is the radical of 美?
What are the components of 美?
What are common words containing 美?
What characters sound the same as 美 (měi)?
Is 美 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 美 with real-time feedback
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