Chinese symbol for “cowardice”
胆小
dǎn xiǎo
Traditional: 膽小
cowardice; timid
The closest CC-CEDICT match for cowardice is 胆小 (dǎn xiǎo), defined as: cowardice; timid.
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 胆小.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大胆 (大膽) | dà dǎn | brazen; audacious |
| 胆子 (膽子) | dǎn zi | courage; nerve |
| 胆敢 (膽敢) | dǎn gǎn | to dare (negative connotation); to have the audacity to (do sth) |
| 胆量 (膽量) | dǎn liàng | courage; boldness |
| 胆固醇 (膽固醇) | dǎn gù chún | cholesterol |
| 小时 (小時) | xiǎo shí | hour |
| 小说 (小說) | xiǎo shuō | novel; fiction |
| 小学 (小學) | xiǎo xué | elementary school; primary school |
See also: Japanese symbol for “cowardice”.
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.