Chinese symbol for “float”
飘
piāo
Traditional: 飄
to float (in the air); to flutter; to waft; complacent; frivolous; weak; shaky; wobbly
The closest CC-CEDICT match for float is 飘 (piāo), defined as: to float (in the air); to flutter; to waft; complacent; frivolous; weak; shaky; wobbly.
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 “float”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 浮 | fú | to float; superficial |
| 漂浮 | piāo fú | to float; to hover |
| 悬浮 (懸浮) | xuán fú | to float (in the air etc); suspension |
| 漂 | piāo | to float; to drift |
| 漂泊 | piāo bó | (of a boat) to float; to drift; to lie at anchor; (fig.) to roam; to lead a wandering existence |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 飘.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 飘扬 (飄揚) | piāo yáng | to wave; to flutter |
| 飘浮 (飄浮) | piāo fú | to float; to hover |
| 飘飘 (飄飄) | piāo piāo | to float about; to flutter (in the breeze) |
| 飘逸 (飄逸) | piāo yì | graceful; elegant |
| 飘荡 (飄盪) | piāo dàng | to drift; to wave |
| 飘散 (飄散) | piāo sàn | to waft (through the air); to drift |
See also: Japanese symbol for “float”.
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.