Chinese symbol for “downplay”
轻描淡写
qīng miáo dàn xiě
Traditional: 輕描淡寫
(idiom) to treat sth as no big deal; to downplay; to understate
The closest CC-CEDICT match for downplay is 轻描淡写 (qīng miáo dàn xiě), defined as: (idiom) to treat sth as no big deal; to downplay; to understate.
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 “downplay”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 矮化 | ǎi huà | (plant pathology) to become stunted; (horticulture) to dwarf; to reduce in size (by pruning, breeding etc) |
| 冷处理 (冷處理) | lěng chǔ lǐ | (mechanics) cold treatment; to downplay; to handle in a low-key way |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 轻描淡写.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 年轻 (年輕) | nián qīng | young |
| 年轻人 (年輕人) | nián qīng rén | young people; youngster |
| 轻松 (輕鬆) | qīng sōng | light; gentle |
| 轻易 (輕易) | qīng yì | easy; simple; rashly; offhandedly |
| 减轻 (減輕) | jiǎn qīng | to lighten; to ease |
| 轻轻 (輕輕) | qīng qīng | lightly; softly |
| 描述 | miáo shù | to describe; description |
| 描写 (描寫) | miáo xiě | to describe; to depict; to portray; depiction; portrayal |
| 淡水 | dàn shuǐ | freshwater |
| 写作 (寫作) | xiě zuò | to write; to compose |
See also: Japanese symbol for “downplay”.
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.