King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “sway”

动摇
dòng yáo
Traditional: 動搖
to sway; to waver; to rock; to rattle

The closest CC-CEDICT match for sway is 动摇 (dòng yáo), defined as: to sway; to waver; to rock; to rattle; to destabilize; to pose a challenge to.

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

动 dòng
to move, to happen; movement, action
radical 19 ⼒ · 6 strokes
摇 yáo
to rock, to shake; to swing, to wave
radical 64 ⼿ · 13 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “sway”

WordPinyinMeaning
晃huàngto sway; to shake
摇摆 (搖擺)yáo bǎito sway; to wobble
摆动 (擺動)bǎi dòngto sway; to swing
摇晃 (搖晃)yáo huàngto rock; to shake; to sway
晃动 (晃動)huàng dòngto shake; to sway; to rock

Related words

Other words that share a character with 动摇.

WordPinyinMeaning
活动 (活動)huó dòngto exercise; to move about; to work out; shaky; unsteady; loose (tooth etc)
运动 (運動)yùn dòngto move; to exercise
行动 (行動)xíng dòngoperation; action
动物 (動物)dòng wùanimal
推动 (推動)tuī dòngto push (e.g. for acceptance of a plan); to promote; to give impetus to
劳动 (勞動)láo dòngwork; toil
摇滚 (搖滾)yáo gǔnrock 'n' roll (music); to rock
摇晃 (搖晃)yáo huàngto rock; to shake; to sway

See also: Japanese symbol for “sway”.

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.

Last posts

  1. What Is a Suburito and Is It Worth Buying for Strength
  2. Buying a Wooden Wakizashi for Two-Sword Practice
  3. Buying Chanbara Swords for Sparring and Competition
  4. What Size Shinai Does a Child Need for Kendo Practice
  5. Best Polypropylene Bokken for Hard Contact Training
  6. Best Foam Swords for Kids Martial Arts and Safe Practice
  7. Are Cold Steel Training Swords Good for Practice
  8. Shinai Maintenance and Essential Tools for Bamboo Care
  9. Best Shinai for Kendo Beginners Choosing Your First Sword
  10. Choosing the Best Bokken for Kendo Kata