Chinese symbol for “idle”
闲
xián
Traditional: 閒
idle; unoccupied; leisure
The closest CC-CEDICT match for idle is 闲 (xián), defined as: idle; unoccupied; leisure.
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 “idle”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 疏散 | shū sǎn | idle; leisurely; laid-back; Taiwan pr. [shu1san4] |
| 懒惰 (懶惰) | lǎn duò | idle; lazy |
| 清闲 (清閒) | qīng xián | idle; leisurely |
| 怠 | dài | idle; lazy |
| 混日子 | hùn rì zi | to idle; to waste time |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 闲.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 休闲 (休閒) | xiū xián | leisure; relaxation |
| 闲置 (閒置) | xián zhì | to leave unused; to leave idle; to lie idle |
| 闲暇 (閑暇) | xián xiá | leisure; free time |
| 悠闲 (悠閑) | yōu xián | variant of 悠閒|悠闲; leisurely |
See also: Japanese symbol for “idle”.
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.