Meaning of 大胆
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- brazen
- audacious
- outrageous
- bold
- daring
- fearless
How to use 大胆
大胆 can describe a person or an action, and it often works as an adverb before a verb with 地 or on its own, as in 大胆说 (speak up boldly). It can be positive (brave) or negative (brazen), depending on context. Example: 你要大胆地说中文。(Nǐ yào dàdǎn de shuō Zhōngwén.) You should be bold and speak Chinese.
大 (dà) means big and 胆 (dǎn) means gallbladder, which Chinese links to courage. Someone with a big gallbladder has a lot of nerve, so 大胆 means bold or daring.
Common mistake: Learners often write 胆 with 旦 confused for 日 or 且. The right side is 旦 (dàn), which also hints at the sound. Also, both syllables need clear tones: dà is fourth tone and dǎn is third tone, not dān.
大胆 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.
大 dà · big · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
胆 dǎn · gall bladder · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Related words
Words that share a character with 大胆.
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | the greater part; the majority; most; Taiwan pr. [da4bu4fen4] |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice |
| 大量 | dàliàng | great amount; large quantity |
| 大多数 | dàduōshù | (great) majority |
| 大海 | dàhǎi | sea; ocean |
| 大门 | dàmén | entrance; door |
Questions about 大胆
What does 大胆 mean?
大胆 (dàdǎn) means "brazen; audacious" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 大胆?
大胆 is made of 2 characters: 大 (3 strokes), 胆 (9 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 大胆 an HSK word?
Yes. 大胆 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 大胆 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 大胆 is written 大膽.
What is the opposite of 大胆?
The opposite is 胆小 (dǎnxiǎo), meaning timid or cowardly. A very timid person can be called 胆小鬼 (dǎnxiǎoguǐ), a scaredy-cat.
Is 大胆 a compliment or an insult?
It can be either. 大胆尝试 (dàdǎn chángshì, to try boldly) is praise, but 你好大胆 (nǐ hǎo dàdǎn) said in an angry tone means "How dare you."