Meaning of 脏
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- dirty
- filthy
- to get (sth) dirty
- viscera
- (anatomy) organ
How to use 脏
As an adjective 脏 (zāng) describes things that are dirty, like clothes, hands, or a room. It can also be a verb meaning to get something dirty. Example: 你的手很脏。(Nǐ de shǒu hěn zāng.) Your hands are very dirty.
脏 has 月 (the flesh radical, from 肉) on the left and 庄 (zhuāng) on the right, which hints at the sound. Think of flesh and guts: the organs inside the body are messy, so the same character means both organs (zàng) and dirty (zāng).
Common mistake: Learners often read 心脏 (heart) as xīnzāng, but in organ words 脏 is fourth tone: xīnzàng, gānzàng, nèizàng. Use first tone zāng only for the meaning dirty, as in 脏话 (zānghuà).
脏 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.
脏 zāng · dirty · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 脏.
Questions about 脏
What does 脏 mean?
脏 (zāng) means "dirty; filthy" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 脏?
脏 is made of 1 character: 脏 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 脏 an HSK word?
Yes. 脏 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 脏 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 脏 is written 髒.
What is the opposite of 脏 in Chinese?
The usual opposite is 干净 (gānjìng), meaning clean. For example, 房间很干净 (fángjiān hěn gānjìng) means the room is very clean.
Is 脏 only about physical dirt?
No. It can describe language or behavior too. 脏话 (zānghuà) means swear words, and 肮脏 (āngzāng) can mean morally despicable as well as filthy.