Meaning of 瓜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- melon; gourd; squash
- (slang) a piece of gossip
How to use 瓜
瓜 (guā) appears in many fruit and vegetable names, such as 西瓜 (xīguā, watermelon), 黄瓜 (huángguā, cucumber), and 南瓜 (nánguā, pumpkin). Online, 吃瓜 (chī guā) means to watch gossip unfold like a bystander. Example: 夏天我喜欢吃西瓜。(Xiàtiān wǒ xǐhuan chī xīguā.) I like eating watermelon in summer.
Picture 瓜 (guā) as a vine with a round melon hanging in the middle. The little hook and dot inside the shape are like the fruit dangling from its stem.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 瓜 (guā) with 爪 (zhǎo, claw), which looks similar but lacks the inner hook and dot stroke. Remember that the melon 瓜 has something extra hanging inside.
瓜 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.
瓜 guā · melon · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 瓜.
| 西瓜 | xīguā | watermelon |
| 黄瓜 | huángguā | cucumber |
| 傻瓜 | shǎguā | idiot; fool |
| 南瓜 | nánguā | pumpkin |
| 瓜分 | guāfēn | to partition; to divide up |
| 瓜子 | guāzǐ | melon seed; seeds of pumpkin, watermelon or sunflower etc, roasted and flavored, consumed |
| 瓜葛 | guāgé | connection; association |
| 呆瓜 | dāiguā | idiot; fool |
| 木瓜 | mùguā | papaya (Carica papaya); genus Chaenomeles of shrubs in the family Rosaceae |
| 苦瓜 | kǔguā | bitter melon (bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple, leprosy gourd, bitter cucumber) |
| 甜瓜 | tiánguā | muskmelon |
| 脑瓜 | nǎoguā | skull; brain |
Questions about 瓜
What does 瓜 mean?
瓜 (guā) means "melon; gourd; squash; (slang) a piece of gossip" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 瓜?
瓜 is made of 1 character: 瓜 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 瓜 an HSK word?
Yes. 瓜 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 吃瓜 (chī guā) mean on Chinese social media?
It literally means eating melon, but online it means watching gossip or drama as an onlooker. People who do this are called 吃瓜群众 (chī guā qúnzhòng), the melon-eating crowd.
Why does 傻瓜 (shǎguā) mean fool if 瓜 means melon?
傻 (shǎ) means silly, and adding 瓜 makes a playful word for a fool. It is often used affectionately between friends or partners, not only as an insult.