Chinese symbol for “try”
尝试
cháng shì
Traditional: 嘗試
to try (to see what it's like or whether one can do it)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for try is 尝试 (cháng shì), defined as: to try (to see what it's like or whether one can do it).
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 “try”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 设法 (設法) | shè fǎ | to try; to make an attempt |
| 尝 (嘗) | cháng | to taste; to try (food); to experience |
| 试图 (試圖) | shì tú | to attempt; to try |
| 试 (試) | shì | to test; to try |
| 企图 (企圖) | qǐ tú | to attempt; to try |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 尝试.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 品尝 (品嘗) | pǐn cháng | variant of 品尝 (pǐn cháng) |
| 未尝 (未嘗) | wèi cháng | not ever; not necessarily |
| 何尝 (何嘗) | hé cháng | (rhetorical question) when?; how? |
| 卧薪尝胆 (臥薪嘗膽) | wò xīn cháng dǎn | (lit.) to sleep on brushwood and taste gall (like King Goujian of Yue 勾践 (Gōu jiàn), in order to recall one's humiliations) (idiom); (fig.) |
| 测试 (測試) | cè shì | to test (machinery etc); to test (a person's skill in a particular area) |
| 考试 (考試) | kǎo shì | to take an exam; exam |
| 试图 (試圖) | shì tú | to attempt; to try |
| 试验 (試驗) | shì yàn | experiment; test |
See also: Japanese symbol for “try”.
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.