Meaning of 悬
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to hang or suspend
- to worry
- public announcement
- unresolved
- baseless
- without foundation
How to use 悬
悬 is mostly used in compounds like 悬挂 (xuánguà, to hang), 悬崖 (xuányá, cliff) and 悬念 (xuánniàn, suspense). In everyday speech, 悬 alone often means something is risky or uncertain: 这件事很悬。(Zhè jiàn shì hěn xuán.) This is really touch and go.
悬 is made of 县 (xiàn, county) on top of 心 (xīn, heart). Picture your heart hanging in the air, so you feel both suspended and worried.
Common mistake: Learners often write 县 (xiàn) and forget the 心 at the bottom, or mix up the reading and say xiàn. 悬 has the second tone, xuán, like 旋 (xuán).
悬 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.
悬 xuán · to hang or suspend · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Related words
Words that share a character with 悬.
| 悬崖 | xuányá | precipice; overhanging cliff |
| 悬挂 | xuánguà | to suspend; to hang |
| 悬念 | xuánniàn | suspense in a movie, play etc; concern for sb's welfare |
| 悬殊 | xuánshū | vastly different; poles apart |
| 悬赏 | xuánshǎng | to offer a reward; bounty |
| 悬浮 | xuánfú | to float (in the air etc); suspension |
| 悬疑 | xuányí | suspense |
| 悬案 | xuán'àn | unresolved question; unresolved case |
Questions about 悬
What does 悬 mean?
悬 (xuán) means "to hang or suspend; to worry" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 悬?
悬 is made of 1 character: 悬 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 悬 an HSK word?
Yes. 悬 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 悬 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 悬 is written 懸.
What does 太悬了 mean in spoken Chinese?
太悬了 (tài xuán le) means something was very close to going wrong, like a near miss. For example, you might say it after almost missing a train.
What is the difference between 悬 and 挂 (guà)?
挂 is the everyday word for hanging things, like 挂衣服 (guà yīfu, to hang clothes). 悬 sounds more formal and stresses being suspended in the air with nothing underneath.