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
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “sway”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 晃 | huàng | to sway; to shake |
| 摇摆 (搖擺) | yáo bǎi | to sway; to wobble |
| 摆动 (擺動) | bǎi dòng | to sway; to swing |
| 摇晃 (搖晃) | yáo huàng | to rock; to shake; to sway |
| 晃动 (晃動) | huàng dòng | to shake; to sway; to rock |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 动摇.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 活动 (活動) | huó dòng | to exercise; to move about; to work out; shaky; unsteady; loose (tooth etc) |
| 运动 (運動) | yùn dòng | to move; to exercise |
| 行动 (行動) | xíng dòng | operation; action |
| 动物 (動物) | dòng wù | animal |
| 推动 (推動) | tuī dòng | to push (e.g. for acceptance of a plan); to promote; to give impetus to |
| 劳动 (勞動) | láo dòng | work; toil |
| 摇滚 (搖滾) | yáo gǔn | rock 'n' roll (music); to rock |
| 摇晃 (搖晃) | yáo huàng | to 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.