水性 (shuǐ xìng) — swimming ability; how well someone can swim or handle themselves in water; physical characteristics (depth, currents, etc.) of a body of water; (derogatory, of women) fickle, lascivious (from 水性杨花; outdated and offensive)
Definition
Two main senses: 'swimming ability' (a person's skill in water) and 'water characteristics' (depth, currents, etc. of a body). The derogatory sense from 水性杨花 is archaic and offensive — do not use.
noun
swimming abilityhow well someone can swim or handle themselves in waterphysical characteristics (depth, currents, etc.) of a body of water(derogatory, of women) ficklelascivious (from 水性杨花; outdated and offensive)
Examples
- 水性，。Tā de shuǐ xìng hěn hǎo, yóu dào duì àn dōu méi wèn tí.His swimming ability is excellent — he can swim to the other shore without any problem.
- 水性，。Zhè piàn hú de shuǐ xìng hěn fù zá, jīng cháng yǒu àn liú.The water characteristics of this lake are very complex, often with undercurrents.
- ，。Yòng shuǐ xìng lái xíng róng nǚ xìng dài yǒu biǎn yì, xiàn dài hàn yǔ zhōng hěn shǎo yòng le.Using '水性' to describe women is derogatory; it's rarely used in modern Chinese.
Appears in
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