修长
xiū cháng · HSK 7
slender
🦒 修 (refined, drawn-out) + 长 (long) = drawn-out-long, i.e. slender
修长 stacks two length words: 修 carries a sense of long and well-formed, 长 means long. Together they describe something long and well-proportioned, so it lands on tall-and-thin rather than just big.
修 — 亻 person + 攸 (phonetic) + 彡 hair/decoration
修 combines 攸 (a phonetic component originally showing a person being washed) with 彡, which depicts flowing hair or ornamental strokes. The 彡 element suggests grooming, polishing, or adorning, giving 修 its core meaning of cultivating, repairing, or refining oneself or things.
长 — pictograph of long-haired person with cane
Originally a pictograph showing a person with long, flowing hair leaning on a cane, representing an elder. The meaning extended from 'long hair' to 'long' in general, and also to 'elder' or 'to grow' (read zhǎng). The modern form 长 is a simplification of the traditional 長.