porcelain skin
1
6.1
- noun
- /ˈpɔːrslɪn skɪn/
:
piel de porcelana
- Petite and fashionable, with wide, dark eyes and porcelain skin, Hepburn was the kind of woman you could imagine around your arm at a state dinner—at ease next to Jackie O.
- porcelain skin and hair
- porcelain skin and eyes
- porcelain skin and red hair
Examples
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Her finely arched eyebrows, heart-shaped face, and porcelain skin reminded Cara of a china doll.
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And I still think you have the most beautiful porcelain skin.
Blog text (2) -
I remember when my friend Amy told me that I had "the most beautiful porcelain skin."
Blog text (2) -
She was a pale, pretty thing, with that rare, luminous, porcelain skin which at the moment seemed almost transparent.
Fiction book (1995) -
With her porcelain skin and deep blue eyes, she glowed like the Madonna in the Catholic church back home where Trudy had gone sometimes with Angela Perrelli.
Fiction book (1992) -
Cecelia was just like he remembered: fair hair, porcelain skin, delicate features, light grey eyes.
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One look at Josette's clear porcelain skin and sparkling blue eyes, and he was hopelessly smitten.
Antonyms
How Pale
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is a direct, descriptive comparison: 'porcelain' evokes white, smooth ceramic and combined with 'skin' clearly signals very smooth, pale skin. This simile-like compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically plausible, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Porcelain skin comes from comparing a person's skin to fine white porcelain, like a delicate doll or plate. That's why it means 'very smooth and pale skin'.