Chinese symbol for “linger”
流连忘返
liú lián wàng fǎn
Traditional: 流連忘返
to linger; to remain enjoying oneself and forget to go home
The closest CC-CEDICT match for linger is 流连忘返 (liú lián wàng fǎn), defined as: to linger; to remain enjoying oneself and forget to go home.
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 “linger”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 萦回 (縈迴) | yíng huí | to linger; to swirl around (in the air, in one's mind etc) |
| 徜徉 | cháng yáng | to wander about unhurriedly; to linger; to loiter |
| 滞留 (滯留) | zhì liú | (of a person) to remain in (a place) (due to circumstances that prevent one leaving); to be stranded; (of sth that would typically dissipate, e.g. floodwater, pollutants) to remain |
| 驻留 (駐留) | zhù liú | to stay; to remain |
| 盘桓 (盤桓) | pán huán | to pace; to linger |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 流连忘返.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 交流 | jiāo liú | to exchange; exchange |
| 流行 | liú xíng | (of a contagious disease etc) to spread; to propagate; (of a style of clothing, song etc) popular; fashionable |
| 主流 | zhǔ liú | main stream (of a river); fig. the essential point |
| 流动 (流動) | liú dòng | to flow; to circulate; to move about; mobile; (of assets) liquid |
| 流量 | liú liàng | flow rate; throughput of passengers; volume of traffic; (hydrology) discharge |
| 流通 | liú tōng | to circulate; to distribute; circulation; distribution |
| 连续 (連續) | lián xù | continuous; in a row |
| 连结 (連結) | lián jié | variant of 联结 (lián jié); (Tw) link (on a website); hyperlink |
| 忘记 (忘記) | wàng jì | to forget |
| 返回 | fǎn huí | to return to; to come (or go) back |
See also: Japanese symbol for “linger”.
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.