<p><a href="https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E4%BA%94%E9%A2%9C%E5%85%AD%E8%89%B2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">五颜六色</a> is a Chinese idiom or set phrase that means &quot;(things in view have) <strong>a variety of colors</strong>&quot; or simply means &quot;(the display is quite) <strong>colorful</strong>&quot;. As a &quot;set phrase&quot;, the words and word order cannot be altered. Another example of set phrases is &quot;<a href="https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E4%B8%83%E4%B8%8A%E5%85%AB%E4%B8%8B" rel="nofollow noreferrer">七上八下</a> - be agitated</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-28T03:29:19.460Z
For example,  The idiom 四分五裂 cannot be changed in any way, no number can replace 四, and no number can replace 五; 

五颜六色 is the same
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-28T04:30:26.587Z
There are a lot of "idioms" such as that in Chinese. For example, 七手八腳、五穀豐登、四平八穩、四面八方
fat penguin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-28T00:56:49.070Z
2023-09-28T00:56:49.070Z
r13
<p>棚子里有一张床板摆着各种题材的小人书，墙边还拉了几根绳子，一本本书翻开搭在上面，五颜六色的，很好看。</p>
<p>This is from the Standard Course Book of HSK5, segment 20.</p>
<p>The 五颜六色 with meaning colorful or multicolored, can it be used even if the number of the colors is more than 6? For example 7? 8? 42?</p>
<p>The opposite: If you want to say multicolored or colorful, can you say  六颜七色？七颜八色？八颜四十二色？</p>

<grammar><meaning><number>
Explanation of 五颜六色
# Explanation of 五颜六色

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-09-27)

棚子里有一张床板摆着各种题材的小人书，墙边还拉了几根绳子，一本本书翻开搭在上面，五颜六色的，很好看。

This is from the Standard Course Book of HSK5, segment 20.

The 五颜六色 with meaning colorful or multicolored, can it be used even if the number of the colors is more than 6? For example 7? 8? 42?

The opposite: If you want to say multicolored or colorful, can you say 六颜七色？七颜八色？八颜四十二色？

**Tags:** grammar, meaning, number


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-09-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

[五颜六色](https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E4%BA%94%E9%A2%9C%E5%85%AD%E8%89%B2) is a Chinese idiom or set phrase that means "(things in view have) **a variety of colors**" or simply means "(the display is quite) **colorful**". As a "set phrase", the words and word order cannot be altered. Another example of set phrases is "[七上八下](https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E4%B8%83%E4%B8%8A%E5%85%AB%E4%B8%8B) - be agitated

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: For example,  The idiom 四分五裂 cannot be changed in any way, no number can replace 四, and no number can replace 五;   五颜六色 is the same  
> **username_3**: There are a lot of "idioms" such as that in Chinese. For example, 七手八腳、五穀豐登、四平八穩、四面八方  

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