King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “portrayal”

写照
xiě zhào
Traditional: 寫照
portrayal

The closest CC-CEDICT match for portrayal is 写照 (xiě zhào), defined as: portrayal.

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

写 xiě
to write; to draw, to sketch; to compose
radical 14 ⼍ · 5 strokes
照 zhào
to shine, to reflect, to illuminate
radical 86 ⽕ · 13 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “portrayal”

WordPinyinMeaning
人物描写 (人物描寫)rén wù miáo xiěportrayal
描写 (描寫)miáo xiěto describe; to depict; to portray; depiction; portrayal

Related words

Other words that share a character with 写照.

WordPinyinMeaning
写作 (寫作)xiě zuòto write; to compose
描写 (描寫)miáo xiěto describe; to depict; to portray; depiction; portrayal
撰写 (撰寫)zhuàn xiěto write; to compose
书写 (書寫)shū xiěto write
编写 (編寫)biān xiěto compile
写道 (寫道)xiě dàoto write (used before or after a quoted passage)
照片zhào piànphotograph; 张 (zhāng),幅 (fú)
按照àn zhàoaccording to; in accordance with; on the basis of

See also: Japanese symbol for “portrayal”.

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.