Chinese symbol for “sorry”
抱歉
bào qiàn
to be sorry; to feel apologetic; sorry!
The closest CC-CEDICT match for sorry is 抱歉 (bào qiàn), defined as: to be sorry; to feel apologetic; sorry!.
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 “sorry”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 抱歉.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 抱怨 | bào yuàn | to complain; to grumble |
| 拥抱 (擁抱) | yōng bào | to embrace; to hug |
| 怀抱 (懷抱) | huái bào | to hug; to cherish |
| 抱负 (抱負) | bào fù | aspiration; ambition |
| 抱抱 | bào bào | to hug; to give a cuddle |
| 道歉 | dào qiàn | to apologize |
| 致歉 | zhì qiàn | to apologize; to express regret |
| 歉意 | qiàn yì | apology; regret |
See also: Japanese symbol for “sorry”.
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.