Chinese symbol for “somber”
凄清
qī qīng
Traditional: 淒清
somber; cheerless
The closest CC-CEDICT match for somber is 凄清 (qī qīng), defined as: somber; cheerless.
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 “somber”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 凄清.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凄惨 (悽慘) | qī cǎn | plaintive; mournful |
| 凄凉 (悽涼) | qī liáng | mournful; miserable |
| 凄苦 (悽苦) | qī kǔ | bleak; miserable |
| 凄美 (淒美) | qī měi | poignant; sad and beautiful |
| 凄厉 (淒厲) | qī lì | mournful (sound) |
| 清楚 | qīng chu | clear; distinct |
| 清理 | qīng lǐ | to clear up; to tidy up |
| 清晰 | qīng xī | clear; distinct |
See also: Japanese symbol for “somber”.
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.