Meaning of 胆小
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- cowardice
- timid
How to use 胆小
胆小 describes a person or animal that scares easily. It often appears with 很 or 太, and the opposite is 胆大 (dǎndà). Example: 我妹妹很胆小，不敢一个人睡觉。(Wǒ mèimei hěn dǎnxiǎo, bù gǎn yí ge rén shuìjiào.) My little sister is timid and doesn't dare to sleep alone.
胆 (dǎn) means gallbladder, and in Chinese the gallbladder is where courage lives. 小 (xiǎo) means small, so a small gallbladder means a small supply of courage: timid.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 担 (dān, to carry) instead of 胆 because they look and sound alike. 胆 has the flesh radical 月 on the left, since it is a body organ, while 担 has the hand radical 扌.
胆小 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.
胆 dǎn · gall bladder · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
小 xiǎo · small · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 胆小.
| 小姐 | xiǎojiě | young lady; miss |
| 小时 | xiǎoshí | hour |
| 小朋友 | xiǎopéngyǒu | child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to |
| 小学 | xiǎoxué | elementary school; primary school |
| 小孩儿 | xiǎoháir | erhua variant of 小孩[xiao3 hai2] |
| 小学生 | xiǎoxuéshēng | primary school student; schoolchild |
| 小心 | xiǎoxīn | to be careful; to take care |
| 小时候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood |
| 小组 | xiǎozǔ | group |
| 小说 | xiǎoshuō | novel; fiction |
| 大小 | dàxiǎo | large and small; size |
| 从小 | cóngxiǎo | from childhood; from a young age |
Questions about 胆小
What does 胆小 mean?
胆小 (dǎnxiǎo) means "cowardice; timid" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 胆小?
胆小 is made of 2 characters: 胆 (9 strokes), 小 (3 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 胆小 an HSK word?
Yes. 胆小 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 胆小 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 胆小 is written 膽小.
Is 胆小 an insult?
It can be mild teasing or a plain description, depending on tone. To call someone a coward more strongly, people say 胆小鬼 (dǎnxiǎoguǐ), which literally means timid ghost.
What is the difference between 胆小 and 害怕?
胆小 describes a personality trait, someone who is easily scared in general. 害怕 (hàipà) is a verb for being afraid of something at a specific moment, as in 我害怕狗 (wǒ hàipà gǒu), I am afraid of dogs.