高雅
gāo yǎ · HSK 7
elegant
🎩 高 = tall/high + 雅 = refined/graceful; together: high refinement
高 means high or lofty; 雅 means refined, graceful, or proper (think 'elegant standard'). Combined, 高雅 literally reads as 'high refinement' — dainty, elegant, classy taste or bearing.
高 — pictograph of a tall building/tower
高 is a pictograph of a tall structure, likely a watchtower or multi-story gate, with a roof on top, an upper chamber, and a base below. From this concrete image of height it extended to the general meanings 'tall,' 'high,' and figuratively 'lofty' or 'noble.'