Chinese symbol for “shallow”
浅
qiǎn
Traditional: 淺
shallow; light (color)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for shallow is 浅 (qiǎn), defined as: shallow; light (color).
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 “shallow”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 粗浅 (粗淺) | cū qiǎn | shallow; superficial |
| 肤浅 (膚淺) | fū qiǎn | superficial; shallow |
| 谫 (謭) | jiǎn | shallow; superficial |
| 空疏 | kōng shū | shallow; empty |
| 浮浅 (浮淺) | fú qiǎn | skin-deep; superficial; shallow |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 浅.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 肤浅 (膚淺) | fū qiǎn | superficial; shallow |
| 搁浅 (擱淺) | gē qiǎn | to run aground; to become stranded; (fig.) to run into difficulties and come to a standstill; to stall |
| 浅薄 (淺薄) | qiǎn bó | superficial |
| 浅色 (淺色) | qiǎn sè | light color |
| 深浅 (深淺) | shēn qiǎn | deep or shallow; depth (of the sea) |
| 粗浅 (粗淺) | cū qiǎn | shallow; superficial |
See also: Japanese symbol for “shallow”.
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.