HSK 5 · Family

胆小鬼 dǎnxiǎoguǐ “coward” in Chinese

Said as dánxiáoguǐ

Traditional 膽小鬼

What 胆小鬼 means

  1. coward

How to say 胆小鬼

  • 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 third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale小xiǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale鬼guǐ3rd tone, dipping

Said as dánxiáoguǐ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

胆小鬼 in a sentence

  1. 他是个胆小鬼。

    Tā shì ge dǎnxiǎoguǐ.

    He’s a coward.

    Sentence #1419948 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他们称他胆小鬼。

    Tāmen chēng tā dǎnxiǎoguǐ.

    They called him a coward.

    Sentence #842426 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 胆小鬼 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 小 (xiǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
小xiǎosmall
  • 亅hook · jué
  • 八eight · bā

Memory aidThree small strokes, like grains: small.

The character 鬼 (guǐ) drawn as one shape
鬼guǐdisembodied spirit; ghost; devil

鬼 is a single shape of 9 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 胆小鬼

胆 9 strokes · 小 3 strokes · 鬼 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 胆小鬼

Words with 胆

胆怯dǎnqiè · timid

Words with 小

小xiǎo · small小姐xiǎojiě · miss小学xiǎoxué · elementary school小学生xiǎoxuéshēng · primary school student小朋友xiǎopéngyǒu · child小时xiǎoshí · hour从小cóngxiǎo · from childhood小孩儿xiǎoháir · child小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood小心xiǎoxīn · be careful

Words with 鬼

魔鬼móguǐ · devil

More words: People, Body & Health

痛tòng · painful宝贝bǎobèi · baby成人chéngrén · adult宠物chǒngwù · house pet对方duìfāng · the other person对象duìxiàng · target分手fēnshǒu · to break up妇女fùnǚ · woman

FAQs

胆小鬼 (dǎnxiǎoguǐ) means “coward”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it dǎnxiǎoguǐ: dǎn with a 3rd tone, then xiǎo with a 3rd tone, then guǐ with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like dánxiáoguǐ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. 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, 胆小鬼 is written 膽小鬼. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type danxiaogui with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 胆小鬼 from the suggestions. Typing danxiaogui into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
胆小鬼 is an HSK 5 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.