一 + 身／脸／肚子 + 抽象名词
a face full of, a bellyful of, a whole body covered in …
Structure
一 身／脸／肚子 + 名词（得意／学问／火／酸气…）
What it means
一 means “the whole”: 一脸 is all over the face, 一肚子 a bellyful, 一身 all over the body, giving a vivid picture of a feeling or quality.
How it is built
一 + body part + noun: 一脸得意, 一肚子火, 一身正气. As an object (憋了一肚子火), before 的 (一脸的无奈) or with 地: 他一脸得意地说 (he said, beaming smugly).
When to use it
Match the body part: what shows goes with 脸 (一脸茫然), what is kept inside with 肚子 (一肚子学问, 一肚子委屈), what hangs about the person with 身 (一身酸气, 一身毛病). Near synonym: 满脸.
Watch out
Don't mismatch: ✗一肚子笑容 ✓满脸笑容. 酸 in 一身酸气 means pedantic, not sour.
Examples
他一脸得意地对众人说：“我这一双眼睛，却是认得人的！”
Beaming with self-satisfaction, he told everyone: “These eyes of mine know a man when they see one!”
老张一肚子学问，可就是不会跟人打交道。
Lao Zhang has a head full of learning but no idea how to get on with people.
那几个读书人一身酸气，开口闭口都是古书上的话。
Those scholars reek of pedantry: every other word out of their mouths is a quotation from the classics.
Learn this in Lesson 251 · HSK 9+: 《儒林外史》 (The Scholars)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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