Meaning of 爽
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- bright
- clear
- crisp
- open
- frank
- straightforward
- to feel well
- fine
How to use 爽
爽 describes things that feel refreshing or satisfying, like cool weather, a cold drink or a frank personality. In casual speech it simply means "that feels great." Example: 喝一杯冰水，真爽。(Hē yì bēi bīng shuǐ, zhēn shuǎng.) Drinking a glass of ice water feels so good.
爽 (shuǎng) looks like a big person 大 with two pairs of crosses on each side, like open windows letting fresh air through. Picture someone standing in a breezy room feeling clear, cool and great.
Common mistake: Learners often say 爽 with a second tone, but it is third tone, shuǎng. Also note that in 爽快 (shuǎngkuai) the second syllable is usually neutral tone, and 爽快 often means frank or straightforward when describing a person.
爽 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.
爽 shuǎng · bright · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 爽.
Questions about 爽
What does 爽 mean?
爽 (shuǎng) means "bright; clear" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 爽?
爽 is made of 1 character: 爽 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 爽 an HSK word?
Yes. 爽 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 爽 slang or can I use it in formal writing?
On its own, 爽 meaning "feels great" is casual and common in speech and online. In more formal writing it appears inside compounds like 凉爽 (liángshuǎng) for weather or 豪爽 for a bold, generous character.
What does 不爽 mean when someone says it about another person?
我很不爽 (wǒ hěn bùshuǎng) means "I am annoyed" or "I am in a bad mood." Saying 看他不爽 means you find someone irritating, so it is informal and a bit blunt.