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潇洒 (xiāo sǎ) — elegant and carefree; suave and at ease; natural and unrestrained

Definition

潇洒 (xiāo sǎ) describes someone's manner or style as natural, elegant, and carefree — a confident, effortless ease. Unlike 自在 (inner comfort) or 自如 (unconstrained skill), 潇洒 emphasizes outward poise and flair.

adjective
elegant and carefreesuave and at easenatural and unrestrained

Examples

  • ，潇洒。
    Tā chuān zhuó yì shēn bái chèn shān, xiǎn de shí fēn xiāo sǎ.
    He wore a white shirt and looked very suave.
  • 潇洒，。
    Tā xiāo sǎ dì cóng kǒu dài lǐ tāo chū chē yào shi, méi duō shuō yí jù huà.
    She casually pulled the car keys from her pocket without saying a word.
  • 潇洒，。
    Zhè wèi zuò jiā de wén zì yǒu zhǒng xiāo sǎ de qì zhì, dú qǐ lái hěn shū fu.
    This writer's prose has a free-and-easy quality that makes it pleasant to read.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

潇xiāo
洒sǎ

The pair 潇洒 works as one unit for carefree elegance; the characters do not contribute separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 瀟; 潇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
蕭
蕭xiāo瀟xiāo
Same sound today

The traditional form 瀟 pairs 水 for water with 蕭 for its sound. The simplified 潇 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
西
西xī洒sǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

洒 combines 水, the water part, with 西, which gives the sound.

Open 洒 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.