huàpí

画皮

Word · NounTraditional畫皮

beautiful disguise; deceptive facade

Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma

Meanings

2 senses · 6 examples
1.

noun

human skin disguise painted by demons

literary

A specific term from the classical story "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" (《聊斋志异》). Literally refers to the painted skin a demon wears to appear as a beautiful woman.

 《
Liáo聊
Zhāi斋
Zhì志
Yì异
 》
zhōng中
 《
Huà画
Pí皮
 》
de的
gù故
shì事
fēi非
cháng常
yǒu有
míng名
 。

The story 'The Painted Skin' from 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' is very famous.

Nà那
yāo妖
guài怪
pī披
zhe着
yī一
zhāng张
huà画
pí皮
 ,
wěi伪
zhuāng装
chéng成
shàn善
liáng良
de的
fù妇
rén人
 。

The demon wore a painted skin to disguise itself as a kind woman.

2.

noun

beautiful facade; deceptive appearance

literary

A widely used metaphor for a beautiful or appealing exterior that hides an ugly, vicious, or evil nature.

Bié别
bèi被
tā他
de的
huā花
yán言
qiǎo巧
yǔ语
piàn骗
le了
 ,
nà那
bù不
guò过
shì是
tā他
de的
yī一
zhāng张
huà画
pí皮
 。

Don't be fooled by his sweet talk; it's just his deceptive facade.

Zhè这
gè个
fǔ腐
bài败
guān官
yuán员
biǎo表
miàn面
shàng上
qīng清
lián廉
 ,
shí实
zé则
shì是
yī一
zhāng张
huà画
pí皮
 。

This corrupt official appears clean on the surface, but it's just a beautiful disguise.

Show 2 more examples
Tā她
zhōng终
yú于
sī撕
xià下
le了
wěi伪
shàn善
de的
huà画
pí皮
 ,
lù露
chū出
le了
zhēn真
miàn面
mù目
 。

She finally tore off the hypocritical facade and revealed her true self.

Zhè这
gè个
chǎn产
pǐn品
huá华
lì丽
de的
guǎng广
gào告
zhǐ只
shì是
yī一
zhāng张
huà画
pí皮
 ,
zhì质
liàng量
fēi非
cháng常
chà差
 。

The product's glamorous advertisement is just a deceptive facade; the quality is very poor.