Meaning of 嫌
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to dislike
- suspicion
- resentment
- enmity
- abbr. for 嫌犯[xian2 fan4], criminal suspect
How to use 嫌
In everyday speech 嫌 often means to mind or complain about something, usually followed by a reason: 嫌 + something + adjective. Example: 他嫌这个房间太小。(Tā xián zhège fángjiān tài xiǎo.) He thinks this room is too small. In news and legal language it appears in words like 涉嫌 (shèxián) and 嫌疑人 (xiányírén).
嫌 is made of 女 (woman) on the left and 兼 (jiān, to hold two at once) on the right. Picture someone holding two things at once and being picky, finding fault with both, which leads to dislike and suspicion.
Common mistake: Learners confuse 嫌 with 谦 (qiān, modest) and 歉 (qiàn, apology), which share the 兼 part. Only 嫌 has the 女 radical, and it is read xián with a rising tone.
嫌 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.
嫌 xián · to dislike · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 嫌.
Questions about 嫌
What does 嫌 mean?
嫌 (xián) means "to dislike; suspicion" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 嫌?
嫌 is made of 1 character: 嫌 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 嫌 an HSK word?
Yes. 嫌 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 嫌 and 讨厌?
讨厌 (tǎoyàn) is a general word for disliking or being annoyed by someone or something. 嫌 usually points to a specific complaint, like 嫌贵 (xián guì, to find it too expensive). 嫌弃 (xiánqì) is stronger and means to look down on or reject someone.
How do you say 'not mind' using 嫌?
Use 不嫌 (bù xián). For example, 你不嫌麻烦吗? (Nǐ bù xián máfan ma?) means 'Don't you mind the trouble?' Hosts also say 不嫌弃的话 (bù xiánqì de huà), meaning 'if you don't mind', when offering something modest.