Chinese has the tendency to use two characters to represent a four-character phrase, so sometimes you have to guess at what the original four-character phrase was. But if the dictionary you use gives you a four-character phrase made up of two two-character phrases, you start to have a problem. For example, using zdic.net to look up 清秀, you get: 清异秀出. Then you check 清异 and get 清高特异, and check 秀出 and get 美好特出. The more you keep going, the further away from the original definition you get it seems. I think in this case a Chinese-English dictionary might be better, or just go with your gut feeling. I wonder if there is any other language that is as good as Chinese in avoiding giving precise definitions and allowing you to keep going in circles or leading you down the wrong path.

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