The place to ask China-related questions!
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chengdu Xi'an Hangzhou Qingdao Dalian Suzhou Nanjing More Cities>>

Categories

Close
Welcome to eChinacities Answers! Please or register if you wish to join conversations or ask questions relating to life in China. For help, click here.
X

Verify email

Your verification code has been sent to:

Didn`t receive your code? Resend code

By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .

Sign up with Google Sign up with Facebook
Sign up with Email Already have an account? .
0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Q: What does lovely and cute mean?

What does lovely and cute mean?What is the diffrence between them?In what kind of situation can these words  be used?Confusing,help.I searched on internet,the answers are diffrent .

I hope some native English speaker will help me.Thanks

10 years 38 weeks ago in  General  - China

 
Answers (16)
Comments (15)
Posts: 1876

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Lovely is more of a British term. Cute refers to good looking but not handsome or beautiful. Neither applies to narcissists. 

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3852

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

'lovely' can be used to describe people, places or things. 'Cute' can only be used to describe people (or young animals !!)

Victoria1987:

Thank you.But what does cute and lovely mean?Sorrel

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 879

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Excellent question, Victoria - One which I've been waiting for a Chinese person to ask.

 

Both "cute" and "lovely" translate into "可爱", yet they are completely different things.

 

Cute refers mostly to physical appearance. Small, helpless creatures with big eyes (like puppies, baby pandas, etc.) are cute.

 

Lovely is much deeper. To be described as lovely, you have to have a personality that fills people with joy and makes them feel warm inside. Loveliness has NOTHING to do with physical appearance.

 

Chinese girls who describe themselves as cute or lovely are neither. They are irritating and shallow. In a culture of material greed and superficiality, loveliness is amongst the first casualties.

 

 

 

Victoria1987:

Thank you Sam.

I am 26,some people told I am a cute girl.I am not a little baby girl.What does that mean?Can they call me cute?

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Samsara:

It means they want to have sex with you.

 

And I daresay you asked them "Do you think I'm cute?". Vomit.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Victoria1987:

But what does the word "cute" mean when people told I am a cute girl?

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Victoria1987:

Sam?I think you may can give me a correct answer.Answer my question,pls

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Samsara:

Cute (in reference to girls) means superficially attractive, in a childish way.

 

A woman with any admirable or mature qualities (like a personality, or opinions) would not be described as cute.

 

Cute is a word used to gratify young women with no depth or personal qualities, in the hope that they will be flattered and take their clothes off.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Victoria1987:

Thanks Sam,you answer helped me find the answer I want.But I don't take all the opinions.hehe.indecisionCheers

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

tomcatflyer:

Victoria has someone described you as cute? If so you really need to re-read Samsara's answer, that being the one you like, as I don't think you got the point. Tell us all a bit about your husband, where is he from, or is this another of your famous threads that will run and run.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Victoria1987:

I am kidding.I did't meet anyone,I am still single.Just busy with new job and friends.No love story.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

crimochina:

Actually cute is also used to mean attractive. Girls in a club will say"he's cute". So will guys referring to women but not meaning in a childish way 

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 7204

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Cute does not mean what most people think look it up in the dictionary and you will see

Victoria1987:

In dictionary,it gives diffrent answer,I think the dictionary is not so correct.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1838

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Cute can sometimes mean sexually arousing so when the doctor tells you that you have acute angina, you know that you have scored and he's ready for a bit of action! wink

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 172

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Even native English speakers can't agree on the definitions of these two words. I've seen heated discussions among women debating whether they should accept being called "cute". In my personal opinion, when talking about grown people, cute can still refer to appearance and/or also personality. For example, every time Jennifer Lawrence opens her mouth, she says something cute. I mean that as a compliment.

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 44

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Cute means child like, it can even be an insult in some contexts 

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 9192

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

cute

 

adjective, cut·er, cut·est.
1.
attractive, especially in a dainty way; pleasingly pretty: a cute child; a cute little apartment.
2.
appealing and delightful; charming: What a cute toy!
3.
affectedly or mincingly pretty or clever; precious: The child has acquired some intolerably cute mannerisms.
4.
mentally keen; clever; shrewd.
noun
5.
the cutes, Informal. self-consciously cute mannerisms or appeal; affected coyness: The young actress has a bad case of the cutes.

 

love·ly

 

adjective
1.
charmingly or exquisitely beautiful: a lovely flower.
2.
having a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind as well as to the eye, as a person or a face.
3.
delightful; highly pleasing: to have a lovely time.
4.
of a great moral or spiritual beauty: a lovely character.
noun
5.
Informal. a beautiful woman, especially a show girl.
6.
any person or thing that is pleasing, highly satisfying, or the like: Every car in the new line is a lovely.

 

bayuvar139:

Finally, a good and definitive answer!!!

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 9192

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Post a pic of you wearing a towel and we'll tell you.

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 981

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Cute sounds a lot like fruit so it probably has a similar meaning.  And I think lovely should be like glovely so maybe wearing gloves?  Were you wearing gloves and eating fruit when he said it?

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1084

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Went home with this cute girl last night got up the next morning and her grandmother made us breakfast. What a lovely woman!

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1547

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

For some women, cute is a 4-letter word.  Doesn't seem to apply in China though.

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2494

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

They are both positive....you can say she has a lovely dress on or those are lovely flowers....you wouldn't say those flowers are cute but you might say that dress is cute. 

JustinF:

You have a lovely skirt, cutie.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago

There are cookies, bookies and too many rookies for me to sit here trying to be a hooky! Looky Looky don't call me a wooky. Touchy Touchy Feely Feely Spicy Spicy Nicey Nicey & that's what the doctor Ordered!!

 
Posts: 9192

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Sparket is neither cute or lovely.

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 170

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Just like a lot of other words - completely depends on the context. Especially with cute - as it can be an insult. Both are generally just a compliment though. Take it as a compliment. indecision

Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3852

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Victoria, next time try using the online version of Oxford English dictionary for the words you need the meaning of.

Victoria1987:

dictionary can't tell everything,cute and lovely are both translated to be beautiful.But the concept about each wordsare diffrent.

 

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse

sorrel:

the definitions in the online Oxford English dictionary for each of the two words are different. You are also given sample sentences with the correct use.

10 years 38 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 38 weeks ago
 
Know the answer ?
Please or register to post answer.

Report Abuse

Security Code: * Enter the text diplayed in the box below
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <u>
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

More information about formatting options

Forward Question

Answer of the DayMORE >>
A: Add-it: Getting into the recruiters ... You could also research a
A:Add-it: Getting into the recruiters ... You could also research any school/job offering posted by the recruiters ... as an example:"First job offering this AM was posted by the recruiter 'ClickChina' for the English teacher position at International School in Jinhua city, Zhejiang Province, China...https://jobs.echinacities.com/jobchapter/1355025095  Jinhua No.1 High School, Zhejiang website has a 'Contact Us' option ...https://www.jinhuaschool-ctc.org ... next, prepare your CV and email it away ..." Good luck! -- icnif77