Meaning of 狠
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ruthless; fierce; ferocious
- determined; resolute
- to harden (one's heart)
- old variant of 很[hen3]
How to use 狠
狠 describes someone who is harsh, merciless, or very determined, and it often appears doubled as 狠狠 to mean doing something hard or thoroughly. Example: 他狠狠地批评了我。(Tā hěnhěn de pīpíng le wǒ.) He criticized me harshly.
狠 is built from the dog radical 犭 on the left and 艮 (gěn) on the right. Picture a dog that refuses to back down, baring its teeth, and you have the idea of fierce and ruthless.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 狠 (hěn, fierce) with 很 (hěn, very), since they share the same sound and the right side 艮. Remember that 很 has the 彳 "step" radical and is a common adverb, while 狠 has the dog radical 犭 and means ruthless.
狠 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.
狠 hěn · ruthless · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 狠.
Questions about 狠
What does 狠 mean?
狠 (hěn) means "ruthless; fierce; ferocious; determined; resolute" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 狠?
狠 is made of 1 character: 狠 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 狠 an HSK word?
Yes. 狠 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 下狠心 mean?
下狠心 (xià hěnxīn) means to make up your mind firmly, often to do something difficult or painful. For example, 他下狠心戒烟了 means he resolved to quit smoking.
Is 狠 always negative?
Not always. It can describe cruelty, as in 狠毒 (hěndú), but it can also praise strong determination or effort, as in 狠抓工作 (hěn zhuā gōngzuò), to work on something with great energy.