Chinese symbol for “boss”
老板
lǎo bǎn
Traditional: 老闆
boss; proprietor
The closest CC-CEDICT match for boss is 老板 (lǎo bǎn), defined as: boss; proprietor.
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 “boss”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 上司 | shàng si | boss; superior |
| 老总 (老總) | lǎo zǒng | boss; sir (person with a leading role in an organization) |
| 头子 (頭子) | tóu zi | boss; gang leader |
| 首领 (首領) | shǒu lǐng | head; boss; chief |
| 头 (頭) | tóu | head; hair style |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 老板.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 老师 (老師) | lǎo shī | teacher |
| 老婆 | lǎo pó | (coll.) wife |
| 老人 | lǎo rén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 老公 | lǎo gōng | (coll.) husband |
| 地板 | dì bǎn | floor |
| 板块 (板塊) | bǎn kuài | slab; (geology) tectonic plate |
| 平板 | píng bǎn | slab; flat board; (engineering) surface plate; flat; level |
| 甲板 | jiǎ bǎn | deck (of a ship or boat) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “boss”.
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.