Chinese symbol for “pity”
怜
lián
Traditional: 憐
to pity
The closest CC-CEDICT match for pity is 怜 (lián), defined as: to pity.
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 “pity”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 哀 | āi | (bound form) sorrow; grief; pity; (bound form) to grieve for; to pity; to lament; to condole |
| 悯 (憫) | mǐn | to sympathize; to pity; to feel compassion for; (literary) to feel sorrow; to be grieved |
| 怜悯 (憐憫) | lián mǐn | to take pity on; pity |
| 惜 | xī | to cherish; to begrudge |
| 哀怜 (哀憐) | āi lián | to feel compassion for; to pity |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 怜.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可怜 (可憐) | kě lián | pitiful; pathetic |
| 怜悯 (憐憫) | lián mǐn | to take pity on; pity |
| 可怜虫 (可憐蟲) | kě lián chóng | pitiful creature; wretch |
| 可怜兮兮 (可憐兮兮) | kě lián xī xī | miserable; wretched |
| 怜惜 (憐惜) | lián xī | to take pity on; to feel tenderness toward |
| 怜爱 (憐愛) | lián ài | to have tender affection for; to love tenderly |
See also: Japanese symbol for “pity”.
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.