Chinese symbol for “categorical”
斩钉截铁
zhǎn dīng jié tiě
Traditional: 斬釘截鐵
(lit.) to chop the nail and slice the iron (idiom); (fig.) resolute and decisive; unhesitating; categorical
The closest CC-CEDICT match for categorical is 斩钉截铁 (zhǎn dīng jié tiě), defined as: (lit.) to chop the nail and slice the iron (idiom); (fig.) resolute and decisive; unhesitating; categorical.
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
Related words
Other words that share a character with 斩钉截铁.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 斩首 (斬首) | zhǎn shǒu | to behead; to decapitate |
| 斩断 (斬斷) | zhǎn duàn | to cut off; to chop sth in half |
| 斩获 (斬獲) | zhǎn huò | to kill or capture (in battle); (fig.) (sports) to score (a goal); to win (a medal) |
| 腰斩 (腰斬) | yāo zhǎn | to chop sb in half at the waist (capital punishment); to cut sth in half |
| 斩杀 (斬殺) | zhǎn shā | to behead |
| 钉子 (釘子) | dīng zi | nail; snag |
| 眼中钉 (眼中釘) | yǎn zhōng dīng | a thorn in one's side |
| 铆钉 (鉚釘) | mǎo dīng | rivet |
| 截至 | jié zhì | up to (a time); by (a time) |
| 铁路 (鐵路) | tiě lù | railroad; railway |
See also: Japanese symbol for “categorical”.
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.