映える
はえる · haeru · JLPT N3 · verb-ichidan
to look attractive
📸 映 = reflect, as in 映画 (film); インスタ映え = looks great on Instagram
映 means to reflect or project, so 映える is something that reflects well and stands out. Its noun 映え (bae) is in the slang インスタ映え, a photo that looks great on Instagram. As a pun, bae is also English slang for someone who looks good to you.
映 — sun 日 + center 央 (phonetic)
映 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The sun radical 日 gives the meaning—light, shining, reflection—while 央 (yāng) supplies the sound, shifted to yìng. It originally described sunlight shining on something, and now broadly means 'reflect,' 'shine upon,' or 'project' (as in films).