小心翼翼 (xiǎo xīn yì yì)

Character breakdown

• 小 (xiǎo) · 3 strokes

  Depicts three small dots, representing the meaning "small". Originally the same character as 少. The small dots possibly represent grains of sand (沙).

• 心 (xīn) · 4 strokes

  Depicts a heart.

• 翼 (Yì) · 17 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 異 represents the sound.

• 翼 (Yì) · 17 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 異 represents the sound.

Usage

他小心翼翼地把花瓶放在桌上。

cautious and solemn (idiom); very carefully; prudent; gently and cautiously

tā xiǎo xīn yì yì dì bǎ huā píng fàng zài zhuō shàng 。