HSK 3 · Adjectives

新鲜 xīnxiān “fresh experience” in Chinese

Traditional 新鮮

What 新鲜 means

  1. fresh experience, food
  2. new
  3. novel
  4. fresh (experience, food etc)
  5. freshness
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • uncommon

How to say 新鲜

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale新xīn1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale鲜xiān1st tone, high and level

新鲜 in a sentence

  1. 面包不新鲜。

    Miànbāo bù xīnxiān.

    The bread isn’t fresh.

    Sentence #7771872 from Tatoeba

  2. 我需要新鲜空气。

    Wǒ xūyào xīnxiān kōngqì.

    I need fresh air.

    Sentence #10695957 from Tatoeba

  3. 有什么新鲜事吗？

    Yǒu shénme xīnxiān shì ma?

    Anything new?

    Sentence #794256 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 新鲜 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 新 (xīn) with each of its parts in a different colour
新xīnnew
  • 亲relatives · qīn
  • 斤axe · jīn

Memory aidAn axe 斤 cutting wood. It first meant firewood, freshly cut, and so “new”.

The character 鲜 (xiān) with each of its parts in a different colour
鲜xiānfresh
  • 鱼fish · yúMeaning part
  • 羊sheep · yángSound part

鱼 hints at the meaning (fish); 羊 (yáng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiān.

How to write 新鲜

新 13 strokes · 鲜 14 strokes

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

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

Words related to 新鲜

Words with 新

新xīn · new新闻xīnwén · news新年xīnnián · New Year重新chóngxīn · again新郎xīnláng · bridegroom新娘xīnniáng · bride新颖xīnyǐng · novel崭新zhǎnxīn · brand-new创新chuàngxīn · innovation更新gēngxīn · to update

Words with 鲜

海鲜hǎixiān · seafood鲜艳xiānyàn · bright-coloured鲜明xiānmíng · distinct

More words: Adjectives

热情rèqíng · cordial容易róngyì · easy瘦shòu · thin特别tèbié · special有名yǒumíng · famous越yuè · even more长zhǎng · to grow重要zhòngyào · important

In the Chinese zodiac

羊yáng · Year of the Goat

鲜 is 鱼 (fish) and 羊 (goat).

FAQs

新鲜 (xīnxiān) means “fresh experience, food” or “new”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it xīnxiān: xīn with a 1st tone, then xiān with a 1st 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, 新鲜 is written 新鮮. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xinxian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 新鲜 from the suggestions. Typing xinxian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
新鲜 is an HSK 3 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.