跃然纸上
yuè rán zhǐ shàng
to leap off the page; vividly portrayed
Character by character
跃yuè
leap
leap
然rán
-ly
-ly
纸zhǐ
paper
paper
上shàng
on
on
Example
作者只用了几句话，一个又固执又可爱的老人就跃然纸上。
In just a few sentences the author makes a stubborn, lovable old man leap off the page.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Of painting and writing; the subject is what is portrayed: 人物跃然纸上, 形象跃然纸上. Often after 寥寥几笔 or 短短几句, to stress how little it took.
Learn this in Lesson 93 · HSK 6–7: 两幅北宋长卷 (Two Northern Song scrolls)
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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