Meaning of 诚信
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- honesty; trustworthiness; good faith
How to use 诚信
诚信 is common in formal, business and moral contexts, often as a noun meaning honesty or integrity. You see it in phrases like 讲诚信 (jiǎng chéngxìn, to value honesty) and 诚信经营 (chéngxìn jīngyíng, honest business). Example: 做生意要讲诚信。(Zuò shēngyi yào jiǎng chéngxìn.) In business you must be honest.
诚 (chéng) means sincere and 信 (xìn) means to trust. 信 is a person 亻 standing by their words 言, so 诚信 is being sincere and keeping your word.
Common mistake: Learners often write 城 (chéng, city) instead of 诚. The honesty character has the speech radical 讠 because sincerity is about what you say, not the earth radical 土.
诚信 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.
诚 chéng · honest · 8 strokes
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信 xìn · letter · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 诚信.
| 相信 | xiāngxìn | to believe; to be convinced; to accept as true |
| 信息 | xìnxī | information; news; message |
| 信号 | xìnhào | signal |
| 信心 | xìnxīn | confidence; faith (in sb or sth) |
| 短信 | duǎnxìn | text message; SMS |
| 信用卡 | xìnyòngkǎ | credit card |
| 信任 | xìnrèn | to trust; to have confidence in |
| 信封 | xìnfēng | envelope |
| 通信 | tōngxìn | to correspond (by letter, email etc); to send or receive messages through telecommunicatio |
| 自信 | zìxìn | to have confidence in oneself; self-confidence |
| 诚实 | chéngshí | honest |
| 微信 | wēixìn | Weixin or WeChat (instant messaging and social media app developed by Tencent 騰訊|腾讯[Teng2 |
Questions about 诚信
What does 诚信 mean?
诚信 (chéngxìn) means "honesty; trustworthiness; good faith" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 诚信?
诚信 is made of 2 characters: 诚 (8 strokes), 信 (9 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 诚信 an HSK word?
Yes. 诚信 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 诚信 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 诚信 is written 誠信.
What is the difference between 诚信 and 诚实?
诚实 (chéngshí) describes a person who does not lie, as in 他很诚实 (He is honest). 诚信 is broader and more formal. It stresses keeping promises and being trustworthy, especially in business or society.
Can I say 他很诚信?
It is heard, but it sounds a bit unnatural. Native speakers more often say 他很讲诚信 (tā hěn jiǎng chéngxìn) or 他很有诚信 (tā hěn yǒu chéngxìn).