Chinese symbol for “foreigner”
外国人
wài guó rén
Traditional: 外國人
foreigner
The closest CC-CEDICT match for foreigner is 外国人 (wài guó rén), defined as: foreigner.
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 “foreigner”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 老外 | lǎo wài | (coll.) foreigner (esp. non Asian person); layman |
| 洋人 | yáng rén | foreigner; (esp.) Westerner |
| 外侨 (外僑) | wài qiáo | foreigner |
| 外来人 (外來人) | wài lái rén | foreigner |
| 鬼佬 | guǐ lǎo | foreigner (Cantonese); Westerner |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 外国人.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 另外 | lìng wài | additional; in addition |
| 此外 | cǐ wài | besides; in addition; moreover; furthermore |
| 外国 (外國) | wài guó | foreign country |
| 国外 (國外) | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 海外 | hǎi wài | overseas; abroad |
| 之外 | zhī wài | outside; excluding |
| 国家 (國家) | guó jiā | country; nation; state |
| 国际 (國際) | guó jì | international |
| 人民 | rén mín | the people |
See also: Japanese symbol for “foreigner”.
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.