HSK 5 · Adjectives

清淡 qīngdàn “light (of food” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 清淡 means

  1. light (of food, not greasy or strongly flavoured)
  2. insipid
  3. slack (sales)

How to say 清淡

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale清qīng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale淡dàn4th tone, falling

清淡 in a sentence

  1. 今天想吃清淡的食物呢。

    Jīntiān xiǎng chī qīngdàn de shíwù ne.

    I feel like eating something light today.

    Sentence #3805154 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我早餐通常吃得很清淡。

    Wǒ zǎocān tōngcháng chī de hěn qīngdàn.

    I usually have a light breakfast.

    Sentence #849812 from Tatoeba

How 清淡 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 清 (qīng) with each of its parts in a different colour
清qīngclear; clean
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 青blue-green · qīngSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 青 (qīng) hints at the sound. Compare it with qīng.

The character 淡 (dàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
淡dàninsipid
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 炎flame · yánSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 炎 (yán) hints at the sound. Compare it with dàn.

How to write 清淡

清 11 strokes · 淡 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 清淡

Words with 清

清楚qīngchu · clear清晨qīngchén · early morning清真qīngzhēn · halal澄清chéngqīng · to clarify清除qīngchú · to clear away清理qīnglǐ · to clear up清澈qīngchè · clear清洁qīngjié · clean清晰qīngxī · clear清醒qīngxǐng · sober

Words with 淡

淡dàn · light (in taste or colour)冷淡lěngdàn · cold淡季dànjì · off season淡水dànshuǐ · fresh water

More words: Adjectives

亲爱qīn'ài · dear亲切qīnqiè · amiable勤奋qínfèn · hardworking青qīng · green全面quánmiàn · comprehensive热烈rèliè · enthusiastic弱ruò · weak傻shǎ · foolish

FAQs

清淡 (qīngdàn) means “light (of food, not greasy or strongly flavoured)” or “insipid”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it qīngdàn: qīng with a 1st tone, then dàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 清淡 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qingdan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 清淡 from the suggestions. Typing qingdan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
清淡 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.