Meaning of 净
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- clean
- completely
- only
- net (income, exports etc)
- (Chinese opera) painted face male role
- variant of 淨|净[jing4]
How to use 净
On its own, 净 often works as an adverb meaning "only" or "nothing but" in casual speech, and in compounds it means clean or net, as in 干净 (gānjìng) and 净收入 (jìng shōurù, net income). Example: 他净说废话。(Tā jìng shuō fèihuà.) He talks nothing but nonsense.
净 has the ice radical 冫 on the left and 争 (zhēng) on the right, which also hints at the sound. Picture ice-cold water so clear that the dirt has nothing left to fight for, and everything is clean.
Common mistake: Learners often write 争 with the wrong top or confuse 净 with 静 (jìng, quiet), which has the same sound and the same right side but 青 on the left. Also remember the left side is two-dot 冫, not three-dot 氵, even though the traditional form 淨 uses 氵.
净 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
净 jìng · clean · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 净.
Questions about 净
What does 净 mean?
净 (jìng) means "clean; completely" and is used as a adjective and adverb.
How do you write 净?
净 is made of 1 character: 净 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 净 an HSK word?
Yes. 净 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 净 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 净 is written 淨.
What is the difference between 净 and 只 when they mean only?
只 (zhǐ) is neutral and simply limits the amount. 净 is colloquial and often sounds like a complaint, meaning someone does nothing but one thing, as in 你净玩游戏 (nǐ jìng wán yóuxì), you do nothing but play games.
What does 净 mean in Chinese opera?
In Chinese opera, 净 is the painted face male role, usually a bold or forceful character with heavily colored face makeup. You will mostly see this sense when reading about Peking opera roles.