喜笑颜开

xǐ xiào yán kāi

beaming with joy; all smiles

Character by character

喜xǐ
joy

笑xiào
smile

颜yán
face

开kāi
open

听说孙子考上了大学，爷爷喜笑颜开。

When he heard that his grandson had got into university, Grandpa was all smiles.

Tone: positive (praise).

颜 is the face, which “opens” into a smile. Describes visible delight, usually at good news or at a happy occasion; close to 眉开眼笑, more written.

Learn this in Lesson 234 · HSK 9+: 春晚 (The Spring Festival Gala)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.