本来面目 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• true colors; true features; original appearance

Character by character

• 本běnroot, origin, source; basis
• 来láito arrive, to come, to return; in the future, late
• 面miànface; surface, side; plane, dimension
• 目mùeye; to look, to see; division, topic

Idioms sharing a character

• 一本正经 yī běn zhèng jīng
• 一本万利 yī běn wàn lì
• 报本反始 bào běn fǎn shǐ
• 慈悲为本 cí bēi wéi běn
• 舍本逐末 shě běn zhú mò
• 本性难移 běn xìng nán yí
• 本末倒置 běn mò dào zhì
• 看家本领 kān jiā běn lǐng
• 血本无归 xuè běn wú guī
• 变本加厉 biàn běn jiā lì

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.