Chinese symbol for “think”
想
xiǎng
to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for think is 想 (xiǎng), defined as: to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of).
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 “think”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 以为 (以為) | yǐ wéi | to think; to believe (often with the implication that the belief is mistaken – unless referring to one's own current belief) |
| 认为 (認為) | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel |
| 思 | sī | to think; to consider |
| 恁 | nèn | to think; this |
| 当 (當) | dàng | at or in the very same...; suitable |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 想.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 想要 | xiǎng yào | to want to; to feel like |
| 思想 | sī xiǎng | thought; thinking |
| 不想 | bù xiǎng | unexpectedly; to one's surprise |
| 想到 | xiǎng dào | to think of; to call to mind |
| 想法 | xiǎng fǎ | way of thinking; opinion; notion; to think of a way (to do sth) |
| 梦想 (夢想) | mèng xiǎng | (fig.) to dream of; dream |
See also: Japanese symbol for “think”.
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.