King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “bleak”

萧条
xiāo tiáo
Traditional: 蕭條
bleak; desolate; (economics) in a slump; sluggish; depressed

The closest CC-CEDICT match for bleak is 萧条 (xiāo tiáo), defined as: bleak; desolate; (economics) in a slump; sluggish; depressed.

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

萧 xiāo
mournful, desolate; common Artemisa
radical 140 ⾋ · 12 strokes
条 tiáo
clause, condition; string, stripe
radical 75 ⽊ · 7 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “bleak”

WordPinyinMeaning
凄苦 (悽苦)qī kǔbleak; miserable
萧索 (蕭索)xiāo suǒbleak; desolate
枯寂kū jìbleak; desolate; devoid of liveliness
堪忧 (堪憂)kān yōuworrying; bleak
苍凉 (蒼涼)cāng liángdesolate; bleak

Related words

Other words that share a character with 萧条.

WordPinyinMeaning
萧瑟 (蕭瑟)xiāo sèto rustle in the air; to rustle
萧然 (蕭然)xiāo rándesolate; empty
萧墙 (蕭牆)xiāo qiáng(literary) screen wall shielding an entrance in traditional Chinese architecture
萧索 (蕭索)xiāo suǒbleak; desolate
萧洒 (蕭灑)xiāo sǎvariant of 潇洒 (xiāo sǎ)
条件 (條件)tiáo jiàncondition; circumstance; term; factor; requirement; prerequisite; qualification
条例 (條例)tiáo lìregulations; rules; code of conduct; ordinances; statutes
条约 (條約)tiáo yuētreaty; pact

See also: Japanese symbol for “bleak”.

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.

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