porcelain goddess

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɔːsəlɪn ˈɡɒdɛs/, /-ɪs/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɔɹsəlɪn ˈɡɑdəs/, /ˈpɔɹslɪn ˈɡɑdəs/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: por‧ce‧lain god‧dess

Noun[edit]

porcelain goddess (plural porcelain goddesses)

  1. (figurative) metaphor for a woman, often stressing paleness, delicateness or lack of emotion.
    • 2012, Julie Lessman, A Love Surrendered:
      It was a breathless whisper from a porcelain goddess, pale cheeks accentuating striking blue eyes and glossy pink lips, full and parted with shallow breaths.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see porcelain,‎ goddess.
    • 1826, Robert Morrison, A Parting Memorial:
      In China, there is not a street, nor a shop, nor a palace, nor a hovel, nor a college, nor a poor fisherman's boat, that has not an idol; a carved image of wood, or a porcelain goddess, or a molten divinity of clay, or a literary god of bronze [...]
  3. (idiomatic, humorous, chiefly in the singular) A toilet bowl.
    Synonym: porcelain god

Related terms[edit]