Chinese symbol for “stingy”
吝啬
lìn sè
Traditional: 吝嗇
stingy; mean; miserly
The closest CC-CEDICT match for stingy is 吝啬 (lìn sè), defined as: stingy; mean; miserly.
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 “stingy”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小气 (小氣) | xiǎo qì | stingy; miserly |
| 抠门 (摳門) | kōu mén | (coll.) stingy |
| 啬 (嗇) | sè | stingy |
| 悭 (慳) | qiān | stingy |
| 吝 | lìn | (bound form) stingy |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 吝啬.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不吝 | bù lìn | not to stint; to be generous (with praise etc); to be prepared to (pay a fee, give of one's time etc) |
| 吝惜 | lìn xī | to stint; to be miserly |
| 吝啬鬼 (吝嗇鬼) | lìn sè guǐ | miser; penny-pincher |
| 悭吝 (慳吝) | qiān lìn | (literary) miserly; stingy |
| 不吝赐教 (不吝賜教) | bù lìn cì jiào | to be so kind as to enlighten me |
See also: Japanese symbol for “stingy”.
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.