Chinese symbol for “dreary”
萧
xiāo
Traditional: 蕭
(old) Chinese mugwort; (bound form) desolate; dreary
The closest CC-CEDICT match for dreary is 萧 (xiāo), defined as: (old) Chinese mugwort; (bound form) desolate; dreary.
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 “dreary”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 萧.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 萧条 (蕭條) | xiāo tiáo | bleak; desolate; (economics) in a slump; sluggish; depressed |
| 萧瑟 (蕭瑟) | xiāo sè | to rustle in the air; to rustle |
| 萧然 (蕭然) | xiāo rán | desolate; empty |
| 萧墙 (蕭牆) | xiāo qiáng | (literary) screen wall shielding an entrance in traditional Chinese architecture |
| 萧索 (蕭索) | xiāo suǒ | bleak; desolate |
| 萧洒 (蕭灑) | xiāo sǎ | variant of 潇洒 (xiāo sǎ) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “dreary”.
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.