Chinese symbol for “soft”
烂
làn
Traditional: 爛
soft; mushy; well-cooked and soft; to rot; to decompose; rotten
The closest CC-CEDICT match for soft is 烂 (làn), defined as: soft; mushy; well-cooked and soft; to rot; to decompose; rotten; worn out; chaotic; messy.
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 “soft”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 软 (軟) | ruǎn | soft; flexible |
| 柔软 (柔軟) | róu ruǎn | soft |
| 柔 | róu | soft; flexible |
| 轻柔 (輕柔) | qīng róu | soft; gentle; pliable |
| 软绵绵 (軟綿綿) | ruǎn mián mián | soft; velvety |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 烂.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 灿烂 (燦爛) | càn làn | to glitter; brilliant |
| 腐烂 (腐爛) | fǔ làn | to rot; to putrefy |
| 破烂 (破爛) | pò làn | worn-out; dilapidated; tattered; ragged; (coll.) rubbish; junk |
| 烂摊子 (爛攤子) | làn tān zi | terrible mess; shambles |
| 糜烂 (糜爛) | mí làn | dissipated; rotten |
| 烂透 (爛透) | làn tòu | rotten to the core |
See also: Japanese symbol for “soft”.
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.