胆小 (dǎn xiǎo) — timid, cowardly | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Everyday adjective meaning 'timid, cowardly.' 胆怯 is a more formal, written synonym — use 胆小 in daily speech.

adjective

timidcowardly

Examples

胆小，。
Tā cóng xiǎo jiù hěn dǎn xiǎo, bù gǎn gēn mò shēng rén shuō huà.
He has been timid since childhood and is afraid to talk to strangers.
胆小，！
Bié nà me dǎn xiǎo, yǒng gǎn yì diǎn!
Don't be so timid, be brave!
胆小，。
Dì yī cì shàng tái biǎo yǎn wǒ hěn dǎn xiǎo, hòu lái jiù bú pà le.
I was very timid when I performed on stage for the first time, but later I wasn't afraid.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

胆dǎncourage

“胆” stands for courage, “小” says it is small, so the word pictures a person with little courage.

Characters in this word

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part

Sound part声符shēngfú

旦

旦dàn胆dǎn

Same sound today

胆 combines ⺼, written as 肉 when full, for a body part, with 旦 as a sound part.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

八八bāto divide; to separate
丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Personality & Traits

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