King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “jest”

笑话
xiào hua
Traditional: 笑話
joke; jest; to laugh at; to mock; ridiculous; absurd

The closest CC-CEDICT match for jest is 笑话 (xiào hua), defined as: joke; jest; to laugh at; to mock; ridiculous; absurd.

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

笑 xiào
to smile, to laugh; to giggle; to snicker
radical 118 ⽵ · 10 strokes
话 hua
talk, speech; language, dialect
radical 149 ⾔ · 8 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “jest”

WordPinyinMeaning
诨 (諢)hùnjest; nickname
玩笑wán xiàoto joke; joke
插科打诨 (插科打諢)chā kē dǎ hùnto include impromptu comic material in opera performance (idiom); to jest; buffoonery
有说有笑 (有說有笑)yǒu shuō yǒu xiàotalking and laughing; to jest
玩狎wán xiáto trifle; to dally with

Related words

Other words that share a character with 笑话.

WordPinyinMeaning
微笑wēi xiàosmile; 个 (gè),丝 (sī)
开玩笑 (開玩笑)kāi wán xiàoto play a joke; to make fun of; to joke
可笑kě xiàofunny; ridiculous
搞笑gǎo xiàoto get people to laugh; funny
嘲笑cháo xiàoto jeer at; to deride
电话 (電話)diàn huàtelephone; measure word: 部 (bù)
的话 (的話)de huàif (coming after a conditional clause)
说话 (說話)shuō huàto speak; to say

See also: Japanese symbol for “jest”.

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.

Last posts

  1. Best Shinai for Kendo Beginners Choosing Your First Sword
  2. Choosing the Best Bokken for Kendo Kata
  3. Using a Tsuba on Your Bokken for Partner Practice
  4. How Much Should You Spend on a Wooden Practice Sword
  5. How Long Should a Bokken Be for Your Height
  6. Red Oak vs White Oak for Bokken Which Wood Wins
  7. Best Bokken for Beginners: Choosing Your First Training Sword
  8. Best Escrima Sticks for Students Choosing Your First Pair
  9. Essential Accessories for Your First Pair of Escrima Sticks
  10. Best Escrima Sticks for Your First Seminar