Meaning of 潮流
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- tide
- current
- trend
How to use 潮流
潮流 is used for ocean currents. It is used more often for social trends, fashion, and the direction of history. It often appears in phrases like 时尚潮流 (shíshàng cháoliú, fashion trends) and 跟上潮流 (gēnshang cháoliú, to keep up with the trend). Example: 她总是跟着潮流买衣服。(Tā zǒngshì gēnzhe cháoliú mǎi yīfu.) She always buys clothes that follow the trends.
Both 潮 (cháo, tide) and 流 (liú, to flow) have the water radical 氵 on the left. Picture the tide flowing in, and everyone getting carried along with it. That flow of water is the trend.
Common mistake: Learners often use 潮流 where 流行 (liúxíng) fits better. 潮流 is a noun, the trend itself. 流行 works as a verb or adjective, so say 这首歌很流行, not 这首歌很潮流. Also, 潮 is second tone (cháo). Do not read it like 朝 in the sense of morning, zhāo.
潮流 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.
潮 cháo · tide · 15 strokes
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流 liú · to flow · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 潮流.
| 流行 | liúxíng | (of a contagious disease etc) to spread; to propagate; (of a style of clothing, song etc) |
| 流利 | liúlì | fluent |
| 交流 | jiāoliú | to exchange; exchange |
| 高潮 | gāocháo | high tide; high water; upsurge; peak of activity |
| 潮湿 | cháoshī | damp; moist |
| 流传 | liúchuán | to spread; to circulate; to hand down |
| 一流 | yīliú | top quality; front ranking |
| 流动 | liúdòng | to flow; to circulate; to move about; mobile; (of assets) liquid |
| 流通 | liútōng | to circulate; to distribute; circulation; distribution |
| 流感 | liúgǎn | flu; influenza |
| 主流 | zhǔliú | main stream (of a river); fig. the essential point |
| 流血 | liúxuè | to bleed; to shed blood |
Questions about 潮流
What does 潮流 mean?
潮流 (cháoliú) means "tide; current" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 潮流?
潮流 is made of 2 characters: 潮 (15 strokes), 流 (10 strokes). That is 25 strokes in total.
Is 潮流 an HSK word?
Yes. 潮流 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 潮 alone mean trendy or cool?
Yes. In casual modern speech, 潮 can be an adjective meaning trendy, as in 他穿得很潮 (tā chuān de hěn cháo, he dresses stylishly). In this sense, 潮 works where 潮流 cannot.
What does 历史潮流 mean?
历史潮流 (lìshǐ cháoliú) means the tide or trend of history. It is common in formal writing and speeches, often in phrases like 顺应历史潮流 (shùnyìng lìshǐ cháoliú, to go along with the tide of history).