Chinese symbol for “barbed”

带刺

dài cì

Traditional: 帶刺

thorny; (fig.) barbed; sarcastic

The closest CC-CEDICT match for barbed is 带刺 (dài cì), defined as: thorny; (fig.) barbed; sarcastic.

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

带 dài

belt, strap; band, ribbon; area, zone; to carry, to raise, to wear

radical 50 ⼱ · 9 strokes

刺 cì

to stab; to prick, to irritate; to prod

radical 18 ⼑ · 8 strokes

Traditional forms

帶 dài

Related words

Other words that share a character with 带刺.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
带来 (帶來)	dài lái	to bring; (fig.) to bring about; to produce
一带 (一帶)	yī dài	region; area
带领 (帶領)	dài lǐng	to guide; to lead
带动 (帶動)	dài dòng	to spur; to provide impetus; to drive
带有 (帶有)	dài yǒu	to have as a feature or characteristic; to have an element of (confidence, sweetness, malevolence etc); to carry (a pathogen, connotation et
热带 (熱帶)	rè dài	the tropics; tropical
刺激	cì jī	to provoke; to irritate; to upset; to stimulate; to excite; irritant
讽刺 (諷刺)	fěng cì	to satirize; to mock

See also: Japanese symbol for “barbed”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.