Chinese symbol for “bristling”
乍
zhà
at first; suddenly; abruptly; to spread
The closest CC-CEDICT match for bristling is 乍 (zhà), defined as: at first; suddenly; abruptly; to spread; (of hair) to stand on end; bristling.
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
Related words
Other words that share a character with 乍.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 乍现 (乍現) | zhà xiàn | to appear suddenly |
| 初来乍到 (初來乍到) | chū lái zhà dào | to be a newcomer; just off the boat |
| 乍看 | zhà kàn | at first glance |
| 乍暖还寒 (乍暖還寒) | zhà nuǎn huán hán | (idiom) (of early spring weather) alternating between warm and cold |
| 春光乍泄 | chūn guāng zhà xiè | spring sunshine emerges to bring the world alive (idiom); to give a glimpse of sth intimate (e.g. one's underwear) |
| 一惊一乍 (一驚一乍) | yī jīng yī zhà | frightened; flustered |
See also: Japanese symbol for “bristling”.
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.