Meaning of 闪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to dodge
- to duck out of the way
- to beat it
- shaken (by a fall)
- to sprain
- to pull a muscle
- lightning
- spark
- surname Shan
How to use 闪
闪 is used for quick movements like dodging, and for things that flash or sparkle. It appears in many common words such as 闪电 (shǎndiàn, lightning) and 闪开 (shǎnkāi, get out of the way). Example: 快闪开，车来了。(Kuài shǎnkāi, chē lái le.) Get out of the way, a car is coming.
闪 shows a person 人 inside a door 门. Picture someone flashing past a doorway, there one moment and gone the next, which links to dodging and to a quick flash of light.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 闪 with 问 (wèn, to ask), since both sit inside 门. 闪 has 人 inside, while 问 has 口. Also keep the third tone, shǎn, not shān.
闪 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.
闪 shǎn · to dodge · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 闪.
| 闪电 | shǎndiàn | lightning |
| 闪烁 | shǎnshuò | to glisten; to glitter; to twinkle; to flicker; to be evasive; to equivocate |
| 闪开 | shǎnkāi | to get out of the way |
| 闪耀 | shǎnyào | to glint; to glitter |
| 闪亮 | shǎnliàng | brilliant; shiny |
| 闪光 | shǎnguāng | flash |
| 闪人 | shǎnrén | (coll.) to beat it; to take French leave |
| 闪光灯 | shǎnguāngdēng | flash bulb (photography) |
| 闪过 | shǎnguò | to flash through (one's mind); to dodge (away from pursuers) |
| 闪闪 | shǎnshǎn | flickering; sparkling; glistening; glittering |
| 闪现 | shǎnxiàn | to flash |
| 闪失 | shǎnshī | mishap; accident |
Questions about 闪
What does 闪 mean?
闪 (shǎn) means "to dodge; to duck out of the way" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 闪?
闪 is made of 1 character: 闪 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 闪 an HSK word?
Yes. 闪 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 闪 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 闪 is written 閃.
How do you say you pulled a muscle or twisted your back with 闪?
Use 闪 with the body part, as in 我闪了腰。(Wǒ shǎn le yāo.) I strained my back. This sense means a sudden twist or sprain from a quick wrong movement.
What is the difference between 闪烁 and 闪耀?
闪烁 (shǎnshuò) means to twinkle or flicker on and off, like stars, and can also mean to speak evasively. 闪耀 (shǎnyào) means to shine brightly and steadily, often used in a positive, literary way.