短 (duǎn): short, brief, to lack
短 (duǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “short.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 矢 (semantic) and 豆 (phonetic). It ranks #889 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 短 dart. Its radical form 矢 (arrow) appears in many related characters such as 矮 (ǎi, (of a person) short), 矢 (shǐ, arrow), 矣 (yǐ, classical final particle, similar to modern 了).
Definitions
- short
- brief
- to lack
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 短 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 短
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 短裤noun | duǎn kù | short pants | 3 |
| 短信noun | duǎn xìn | text message | 4 |
| 短期noun/adjective | duǎn qī | short term | 5 |
| 缩短verb | suō duǎn | to shorten | 5 |
| 短缺verb | duǎn quē | shortage | 6 |
| 短处noun | duǎn chù | shortcoming | 5 |
| 长短noun | cháng duǎn | length | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 短暂 | duǎn zàn | of short duration |
| 简短 | jiǎn duǎn | brief (statement, summary etc) |
| 短片 | duǎn piàn | short film |
| 短路 | duǎn lù | short circuit |
| 短语 | duǎn yǔ | phrase (grammar) |
| 短命 | duǎn mìng | to die young |
| 短篇小说 | duǎn piān xiǎo shuō | short story |
| 短袖 | duǎn xiù | short sleeves |
| 短波 | duǎn bō | shortwave (radio) |
| 短袜 | duǎn wà | sock |
| 短程 | duǎn chéng | short range |
| 短促 | duǎn cù | short in time |
| 短跑 | duǎn pǎo | sprint (race) |
| 短距离 | duǎn jù lí | short distance |
| 短文 | duǎn wén | short piece |
短 appears in 100 compound words: 71 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 16 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 短 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (17)
take from the long to supplement the short (idiom); to offset each other's deficiencies; to complement each other
Showing 12 of 17 idioms containing 短.
Example Sentences
短字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
duǎn zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
Short characters may be difficult to write, but their meanings are quite interesting.
张又侠落马影响中国战备?沈有忠:短期内大规模武力犯台机率持续下降
zhāng yòu xiá luò mǎ yǐng xiǎng zhōng guó zhàn bèi ? 沈 yǒu zhōng : duǎn qī nèi dà guī mó wǔ lì fàn tái jī lǜ chí xù xià jiàng
Zhang Youxia's fall affects China's combat readiness? Shen Youzhong: The probability of large-scale armed invasion of Taiwan continues to decline in the short term
军校成长相册丨纸短情长,家书见证学员成长
jūn jiào chéng cháng xiāng cè 丨 zhǐ duǎn qíng cháng , jiā shū jiàn zhèng xué yuán chéng cháng
Military Academy Growth Album丨The paper is short and the love is long, and the family letter witnesses the growth of the cadets
...风向球〉金马开红盘奔向3万4?两大变数酿短压 关注五大族群走势
. . . fēng xiàng qiú jīn mǎ kāi hóng pán bēn xiàng 3 wàn 4 ? liǎng dà biàn shǔ niàng duǎn yā guān zhù wǔ dà zú qún zǒu shì
... Wind Direction Ball〉 Golden Horse opened the red plate and rushed to 30,000 4? Two major variables brewed short-term pressure and paid attention to the trend of the five major groups
“启德海湾”第2期部署短期推出 冀《预算案》推利好楼市措施
qǐ dé hǎi wān dì 2 qī bù shǔ duǎn qī tuī chū 冀 yù suàn àn tuī lì hǎo lóu shì cuò shī
The second phase of "Kai Tak Bay" will be launched in the short term, hoping that the "Budget" will promote measures that will benefit the property market
启德海湾累售742伙套现逾60亿 短期内推第2期|启德新盘
qǐ dé hǎi wān lěi shòu 7 4 2 huǒ tào xiàn yú 6 0 yì duǎn qī nèi tuī dì 2 qī qǐ dé xīn pán
Kai Tak Bay has sold a total of 742 units and cashed out more than 6 billion yuan, launching the second phase in the short term|Kai Tak new project
你回答得这么简短，不觉得有点没礼貌吗？
Nǐ huídá de zhème jiǎnduǎn, bù juéde yǒudiǎn méi lǐmào ma?
Don't you think it's rude to give people such a curt reply like that?
你为什么总是发短信？
Nǐ wèishénme zǒngshì fāduǎnxìn?
Why are you texting all the time?
那条裙子是不是太短了？
Nà tiáo qúnzi shì bù shì tài duǎn le?
Isn't that skirt too short?
公司的长处和短处是什么？
Gōngsī de chángchù hé duǎnchù shì shénme?
What are the company's strengths and weaknesses?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 短 (duǎn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 短 and 长?
How many strokes does 短 have?
What is the radical of 短?
What are the components of 短?
What are common words containing 短?
What characters sound the same as 短 (duǎn)?
Is 短 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 短 with real-time feedback
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