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冁 describes a joyful, radiant, and often sudden smile or laugh. Its traditional form 囅 couples visual suggestions of opening or spreading with components related to happiness and emotion. The simplified 冁 replaces the complex traditional structure with the phonetic element 展, but conveys the same meaning. Historically a literary term, it appears in descriptive prose to vividly depict a character breaking into an amused smile, focusing entirely on the physical manifestation of joy.
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