Chinese symbol for “refined”
The closest CC-CEDICT match for refined is 秀 (xiù), defined as: (bound form) refined; elegant; graceful; beautiful; (bound form) superior; excellent; (loanword) show (as in 时装秀 (shí zhuāng xiù)); (loanword) to show off; to flaunt (as in 秀厨艺 (xiù chú yì)); (literary) to grow; to bloom; (of grain crops) to produce ears.
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
Other Chinese words for “refined”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 斯文 | sī wén | refined; educate |
| 典雅 | diǎn yǎ | refined; elegant |
| 精制 (精製) | jīng zhì | refined |
| 精深 | jīng shēn | refined; profound |
| 精工 | jīng gōng | refined; delicate |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 秀.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 优秀 (優秀) | yōu xiù | outstanding; excellent |
| 真人秀 | zhēn rén xiù | (TV) reality show |
| 秀才 | xiù cai | a person who has passed the county level imperial exam (historical); scholar |
| 脱口秀 (脫口秀) | tuō kǒu xiù | (loanword) talk show; stand-up comedy |
| 选秀 (選秀) | xuǎn xiù | to select talented individuals; (sports) draft |
| 新秀 | xīn xiù | rising star; new talent |
See also: Japanese symbol for “refined”.
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.