Meaning of 巧
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- opportunely
- coincidentally
- as it happens
- skillful
- timely
How to use 巧
巧 describes skill with the hands or mind, and it also describes lucky timing. In speech you often hear 真巧 (zhēn qiǎo) when two things happen at the same moment. Example: 真巧，我也要去那儿。(Zhēn qiǎo, wǒ yě yào qù nàr.) What a coincidence, I'm going there too.
巧 (qiǎo) has 工 (gōng), a tool or work, on the left. Think of a worker whose tool moves with a neat twist, so the work comes out skillful and the timing comes out just right.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes mix up 巧 with 朽 (xiǔ, rotten). Both have a similar right side, but 巧 has 工 on the left and 朽 has 木. Also keep the third tone. 巧克力 is qiǎokèlì, not qiāokèlì.
巧 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.
巧 qiǎo · opportunely · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 巧.
| 巧克力 | qiǎokèlì | (loanword) chocolate |
| 技巧 | jìqiǎo | skill; technique |
| 巧妙 | qiǎomiào | ingenious; clever; ingenuity; artifice |
| 巧合 | qiǎohé | coincidence; coincidental |
| 碰巧 | pèngqiǎo | by chance; by coincidence |
| 凑巧 | còuqiǎo | fortuitously; luckily |
| 恰巧 | qiàqiǎo | by chance; as chance would have it |
| 灵巧 | língqiǎo | deft; nimble |
| 乖巧 | guāiqiǎo | clever (child); smart |
| 心灵手巧 | xīnlíng-shǒuqiǎo | capable; clever |
| 不巧 | bùqiǎo | too bad; unfortunately |
| 轻巧 | qīngqiǎo | dexterous; deft |
Questions about 巧
What does 巧 mean?
巧 (qiǎo) means "opportunely; coincidentally" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 巧?
巧 is made of 1 character: 巧 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 巧 an HSK word?
Yes. 巧 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 碰巧 and 凑巧?
Both mean that something happened by chance. 碰巧 (pèngqiǎo) is a neutral "it just happened that." 凑巧 (còuqiǎo) often suggests the timing was lucky or convenient, and 不凑巧 (bú còuqiǎo) is a polite way to say the timing is bad.
Why is 巧 in the word for chocolate?
巧克力 (qiǎokèlì) is a sound loanword from English "chocolate." The characters were picked for their sounds, so 巧 here does not carry its meaning of skillful or coincidental.