HSK 6 · Emotions

胆怯 dǎnqiè “timid” in Chinese

Traditional 膽怯

What 胆怯 means

  1. timid
  2. cowardly
  3. timidity

How to say 胆怯

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale胆dǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale怯qiè4th tone, falling

胆怯 in a sentence

  1. 汤姆害羞胆怯。

    Tāngmǔ hàixiū dǎnqiè.

    Tom is shy and timid.

    Sentence #10752801 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 胆怯 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 胆 (dǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
胆dǎngall bladder
  • ⺼meat form of 肉 · ròuMeaning part
  • 旦dawn · dànSound part

⺼ hints at the meaning (meat); 旦 (dàn) hints at the sound. Compare it with dǎn.

The character 怯 (qiè) with each of its parts in a different colour
怯qiètimid
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 去to go away · qùSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 去 (qù) hints at the sound. Compare it with qiè.

How to write 胆怯

胆 9 strokes · 怯 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

胆怯 (dǎnqiè) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 胆怯 (dǎnqiè). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 胆怯

Words with 胆

胆小鬼dǎnxiǎoguǐ · coward

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

称心如意chènxīnrúyì · to be completely satisfied崇拜chóngbài · to worship冲动chōngdòng · impulse崇敬chóngjìng · to revere惦记diànjì · to keep thinking about敌视díshì · to be hostile to丢人diūrén · to lose face恩怨ēnyuàn · old grudges

FAQs

胆怯 (dǎnqiè) means “timid” or “cowardly”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it dǎnqiè: dǎn with a 3rd tone, then qiè with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 胆怯 is written 膽怯. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type danqie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 胆怯 from the suggestions. Typing danqie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
胆怯 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.