八面玲珑

bā miàn líng lóng

smooth with everyone; slick

Character by character

八bā
eight

面miàn
sides

玲líng
clever

珑lóng
nimble

她做事八面玲珑，谁也不得罪。

She handles everyone smoothly and offends nobody.

Tone: neutral.

Once pure praise; now it often hints at being too slippery.

Learn this in Lesson 30 · HSK 5–6: 面子、关系与人情 (Face, connections and favours)

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.