减 (jiǎn): to lower, to decrease, to reduce
减 (jiǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to lower.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 冫 (semantic) and 咸 (phonetic). It ranks #857 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 减 ice. Its radical form 冫 (ice) appears in many related characters such as 冷 (lěng, cold), 净 (jìng, clean), 准 (zhǔn, to allow).
Definitions
- to lower
- to decrease
- to reduce
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 减 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 减
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 减少verb | jiǎn shǎo | to lessen | 4 |
| 减肥verb | jiǎn féi | to lose weight | 5 |
| 减轻verb | jiǎn qīng | to lighten | 4 |
| 减弱verb | jiǎn ruò | to weaken | 6 |
| 减压verb | jiǎn yā | to reduce pressure | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 减速 | jiǎn sù | to reduce speed |
| 削减 | xuē jiǎn | to cut down |
| 减掉 | jiǎn diào | to subtract |
| 减价 | jiǎn jià | to cut prices |
| 减慢 | jiǎn màn | to slow down |
| 减去 | jiǎn qù | minus |
| 减刑 | jiǎn xíng | to reduce penalty |
| 缩减 | suō jiǎn | to cut |
| 减缓 | jiǎn huǎn | to slow down |
| 减半 | jiǎn bàn | to reduce by half |
| 减退 | jiǎn tuì | to ebb |
| 减税 | jiǎn shuì | to reduce the tax rate |
| 减小 | jiǎn xiǎo | to reduce |
| 偷工减料 | tōu gōng jiǎn liào | to skimp on the job and stint on materials (idiom) |
| 减低 | jiǎn dī | to lower |
减 appears in 86 compound words: 71 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 8 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 减 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; arithmetic operations
Example Sentences
为了减肥，她每天只吃蔬菜和水果。
Wèile jiǎnféi, tā měitiān zhǐ chī shūcài hé shuǐguǒ.
To lose weight, she only eats vegetables and fruits every day.
通膨上升、减重药热销 美食品业降价吸引顾客回流
tōng péng shàng shēng , jiǎn chóng yào rè xiāo měi shí pǐn yè jiàng jià xī yǐn gù kè huí liú
Inflation rises, weight loss drugs are hot, and the price reduction of the US food industry attracts customers to return
...意外!?特朗普15%全球关税为中国送上“减税大礼”,英法日德成“最大输家”-FX1...
. . . yì wài ! ? tè lǎng pǔ quán qiú guān shuì wéi zhōng guó sòng shàng jiǎn shuì dà lǐ , yīng fǎ rì dé chéng zuì dà shū jiā . . .
... Unexpected! Trump 15% global tariffs for China to send a "tax cut gift", Britain, France, Japan and Germany into the "biggest losers" - FX1...
葡萄牙房地产发展势头不减,但步伐有所改变
pú táo yá fáng dì chǎn fā zhǎn shì tóu bù jiǎn , dàn bù fá yǒu suǒ gǎi biàn
Portugal's real estate momentum continues, but at a different pace
...却让普通员工买单?Meta据称连续两年削减..
. . . què ràng pǔ tōng yuán gōng mǎi dān ? jù chèn lián xù liǎng nián xiāo jiǎn . .
...yet make ordinary employees foot the bill? Meta is reportedly cutting back for two consecutive years...
减少伤害，拯救生命。
Jiǎnshǎo shānghài, zhěngjiù shēngmìng.
Harm reduction saves lives.
药效开始渐渐减退。
Yào xiào kāishǐ jiànjiàn jiǎntuì.
The effects of the medicine were wearing off.
我买了这件减价的汗衫。
Wǒ mǎi le zhè jiàn jiǎnjià de hànshān.
I bought this T-shirt on sale.
最近的一项调查显示吸烟的人数减少了。
Zuì jìn de yī xiàng diàochá xiǎnshì xīyān de rénshù jiǎnshǎo le.
A recent survey shows that the number of smokers is decreasing.
最近对外贸易活动减少了。
Zuì jìn duìwàimàoyì huódòng jiǎnshǎo le.
The activity of foreign trade has been declining of late.
Character Family
冫 Radical Family — Characters sharing the ice radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 减 (jiǎn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 减 and 增?
How many strokes does 减 have?
What is the radical of 减?
What are the components of 减?
What are common words containing 减?
What characters sound the same as 减 (jiǎn)?
Is 减 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 减 with real-time feedback
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