吝 meaning and stroke order
Stingy, miserly; parsimonious
How to write 吝, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Meaning of 吝
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) stingy
- variant of 吝[lin4]
How 吝 is built
Components of the character.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 吝
吝 puts 文 (wén, writing or words) on top of a closed 口 (kǒu, mouth). Picture someone who keeps their mouth shut and only writes polite words, never offering anything real: that is a stingy person.
吝 is a bound form, so it rarely appears alone in modern Chinese. You will mostly see it in 吝啬 (lìnsè, stingy) or in set phrases like 不吝 (bùlìn, not sparing). Example: 他对朋友从不吝啬。(Tā duì péngyou cóng bù lìnsè.) He is never stingy with his friends.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 吝 with 杏 (xìng, apricot) or 否 (fǒu), which also have 口 at the bottom. Check the top part: 吝 has 文, not 木 or 不. Also remember the fourth tone, lìn, not lín.
Common words with 吝
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
吝 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 吝
How many strokes are in 吝?
吝 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 吝 mean?
吝 (lìn) means stingy, miserly; parsimonious. A common word with it is 吝啬 (lìnsè), meaning "stingy; mean; miserly".
How do you pronounce 吝?
吝 is pronounced lìn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 吝?
The radical of 吝 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 吝 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 吝?
The traditional form of 吝 is 恡. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 吝 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 吝啬 and 小气?
Both mean stingy. 小气 (xiǎoqi) is more casual and common in speech, and it can also mean petty or narrow-minded. 吝啬 sounds a bit more formal and focuses on being unwilling to spend or give.
What does 不吝赐教 mean?
不吝赐教 (bù lìn cì jiào) is a polite formal phrase meaning please do not hesitate to give me your advice. It is often used at the end of letters or presentations when asking others for feedback.