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
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “bleak”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凄苦 (悽苦) | qī kǔ | bleak; miserable |
| 萧索 (蕭索) | xiāo suǒ | bleak; desolate |
| 枯寂 | kū jì | bleak; desolate; devoid of liveliness |
| 堪忧 (堪憂) | kān yōu | worrying; bleak |
| 苍凉 (蒼涼) | cāng liáng | desolate; bleak |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 萧条.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 萧瑟 (蕭瑟) | xiāo sè | to rustle in the air; to rustle |
| 萧然 (蕭然) | xiāo rán | desolate; empty |
| 萧墙 (蕭牆) | xiāo qiáng | (literary) screen wall shielding an entrance in traditional Chinese architecture |
| 萧索 (蕭索) | xiāo suǒ | bleak; desolate |
| 萧洒 (蕭灑) | xiāo sǎ | variant of 潇洒 (xiāo sǎ) |
| 条件 (條件) | tiáo jiàn | condition; circumstance; term; factor; requirement; prerequisite; qualification |
| 条例 (條例) | tiáo lì | regulations; rules; code of conduct; ordinances; statutes |
| 条约 (條約) | tiáo yuē | treaty; 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.