Meaning of 敏感
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- sensitive
- susceptible
How to use 敏感
敏感 describes people who react strongly to feelings or criticism, bodies that react to things like allergens, and topics that are delicate to discuss. Example: 她对花粉很敏感。(Tā duì huāfěn hěn mǐngǎn.) She is sensitive to pollen.
敏 (mǐn) means quick or alert, and 感 (gǎn) means to feel, the same 感 you see in 感觉 (gǎnjué). Someone who is 敏感 feels things quickly, so they are sensitive.
Common mistake: Learners often drop the 对 (duì) structure and say 我敏感花粉. The correct pattern is 对 + thing + 敏感, as in 我对花粉敏感. Also note that 敏 is third tone, so in fast speech 敏感 stays mǐngǎn with a rising-then-falling feel. Do not read it as mìngǎn.
敏感 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.
敏 mǐn · fast · 11 strokes
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感 gǎn · to feel · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 敏感.
| 感觉 | gǎnjué | feeling; impression; sensation; to feel; to perceive |
| 感到 | gǎndào | to feel; to sense; to perceive |
| 感谢 | gǎnxiè | to thank; to be grateful |
| 感动 | gǎndòng | to move (sb); to touch (sb emotionally) |
| 感受 | gǎnshòu | to sense; perception |
| 感情 | gǎnqíng | emotion; sentiment; affection; feelings between two persons |
| 情感 | qínggǎn | feeling; emotion |
| 感冒 | gǎnmào | to catch cold; (common) cold |
| 感兴趣 | gǎn xìngqù | to be interested (in sth) |
| 过敏 | guòmǐn | (medicine) allergic; hypersensitive; (fig.) oversensitive; prone to overreact |
| 感想 | gǎnxiǎng | impressions; reflections |
| 感人 | gǎnrén | touching; moving |
Questions about 敏感
What does 敏感 mean?
敏感 (mǐngǎn) means "sensitive; susceptible" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 敏感?
敏感 is made of 2 characters: 敏 (11 strokes), 感 (13 strokes). That is 24 strokes in total.
Is 敏感 an HSK word?
Yes. 敏感 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 敏感 positive or negative when describing a person?
It can be either. 他很敏感 often suggests someone is easily hurt or overthinks things, which is mildly negative. In contexts like 对市场很敏感 (sensitive to the market) it praises sharp awareness.
What does 敏感话题 mean?
敏感话题 (mǐngǎn huàtí) means a sensitive topic, something delicate or risky to talk about. You can also hear 敏感问题 (a sensitive issue) used the same way.