Chinese symbol for “tear”
眼泪
yǎn lèi
Traditional: 眼淚
tear; teardrop; measure word: 滴 (dī)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for tear is 眼泪 (yǎn lèi), defined as: tear; teardrop; measure word: 滴 (dī).
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 “tear”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 撕 | sī | to tear |
| 撕裂 | sī liè | to tear; to rip apart |
| 撕破 | sī pò | to tear; to rip |
| 扯 | chě | to pull; to tear |
| 捩 | liè | tear; twist |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 眼泪.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 眼睛 | yǎn jing | eye; 只 (zhī),双 (shuāng) |
| 眼前 | yǎn qián | before one's eyes; now |
| 眼中 | yǎn zhōng | in (sb's) eyes |
| 眼镜 (眼鏡) | yǎn jìng | spectacles; eyeglasses |
| 眼光 | yǎn guāng | gaze; insight |
| 泪水 (淚水) | lèi shuǐ | teardrop; tears |
| 流泪 (流淚) | liú lèi | to shed tears |
| 落泪 (落淚) | luò lèi | to shed tears; to weep |
See also: Japanese symbol for “tear”.
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.