Chinese word

嘴角

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuǐ jiǎo

Meaning

  • nouncorner of the mouth

Example

她的嘴角微微上扬。tā de zuí jiǎo wēi wēi shàng yáng

The corner of her mouth rose slightly.

Illustration for 嘴角 (corner of the mouth)

More examples

听到好消息，她的嘴角不自觉地上扬。tīng dào hǎo xiāo xī tā de zuí jiǎo bú zì jué dì shàng yáng

When she heard the good news, the corner of her mouth rose involuntarily.

Core concept

The place where the lips meet the surrounding face at either side of the mouth, especially when its position changes.

Common phrases

  • 嘴角上扬zuí jiǎo shàng yáng

    corner of the mouth turns up

  • 嘴角下垂zuí jiǎo xià chuí

    corner of the mouth droops

Similar words

口角kóu jiǎo: The area at either side of the mouth where changes in the lips can show facial expression.

Definition in Chinese

指嘴唇外侧的边缘位置，既可以指作为身体部位的口角，也常用来描述面部表情的动态细节。zhǐ zuǐ chún wài cè de biān yuán wèi zhì jì ké yǐ zhǐ zuò wéi shēn tǐ bù wèi de kóu jiǎo yě cháng yòng lái miáo shù miàn bù biǎo qíng de dòng tài xì jié

Word origin

The compound joins 嘴 (zuǐ, "mouth") with 角 (jiǎo, "corner"), so its literal structure points to a specific part of the area around the mouth.

Usage tips

  • A raised or drooping position here is often a visual clue rather than a fixed emotion, so Chinese descriptions can record the expression before interpreting it.

Other meanings

  • area around the mouthnoun

Word lists with this word