侃 (kǎn): upright and honest, cheerful, to chat idly

侃 (kǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “upright and honest.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural). It ranks #2875 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 侃 as trustworthy 㐰 as spring-water 川. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 亻 person8 strokesFrequency #2875亻 structural

Definitions

upright and honest
cheerful
to chat idly

Etymology & Origin

侃

ideographicAs trustworthy 㐰 as spring-water 川

Decomposition: ⿰亻⿱口川 (layout: left-right)

Components:亻structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 侃 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
调侃	tiáo kǎn	to ridicule
侃侃而谈	kǎn kǎn ér tán	to speak frankly with assurance
侃大山	kǎn dà shān	to chatter idly
侃价	kǎn jià	to bargain
侃星	kǎn xīng	chatterbox
侃爷	kǎn yé	big talker
闲侃	xián kǎn	to chat idly
侃侃	kǎn kǎn	to possess assurance and composure

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

侃 appears in 8 compound words: 75 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 0 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 侃 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

陶táo

0.5433,090 co-occurrences

调diào

0.4954,164 co-occurrences

辉huī

0.461576 co-occurrences

羊yáng

0.419594 co-occurrences

讽fěng

0.398120 co-occurrences

陈chén

0.388888 co-occurrences

韩hán

0.382582 co-occurrences

谈tán

0.371330 co-occurrences

钦qīn

0.362150 co-occurrences

嘲cháo

0.36190 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

侃侃而谈kǎnkǎn'értánHSK 7+

to speak frankly and in measured tones

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

那个侃影在月光下显得格外孤独。

nā gě kǎn yǐng zài yuè guāng xià xiǎn dé gé wài gū dú .

That chatterbox looked especially lonely under the moonlight.

SmzdmApr 2026

...首胜!狼队表弟首秀表现平平不敌TE【奶爸侃瓦329】

. . . shǒu shèng ! láng duì biǎo dì shǒu xiù biǎo xiàn píng píng bù dí T E nǎi bà kǎn wǎ 3 2 9

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

春哥侃陆/判读中东危局上海国研院为何最具指标...

chūn gē kǎn lù pàn dòu zhōng dōng wēi jú shàng hǎi guó yán yuàn wéi hé zuì jù zhǐ biāo . . .

Chun Ge Talks About Lu / Analyzing the Crisis in the Middle East: Why Is the Shanghai Institute of International Studies the Most Authoritative...

Hk01.comFeb 2026

...少女与小38岁男演员拍吻戏上热搜网民调侃:还真敢演

. . . shǎo nǚ yǔ xiǎo 3 8 suì nán yǎn yuán pāi wěn xì shàng rè sōu wǎng mín diào kǎn : hái zhēn gǎn yǎn

... The girl and the 38-year-old actor kissed on the hot search Netizens ridiculed: I really dare to act

Tatoeba

时间还早着呢，大家坐下来侃一会儿吧。

Shíjiān hái zǎo zhene, dàjiā zuòxia lái kǎn yīhuìr ba.

It's still early. We should all just chill for a bit.

Tatoeba

消磨时间的最有效办法当然还是聊天吹牛侃大山。

Xiāomóshíjiān de zuì yǒuxiào bànfǎ dāngrán háishi liáotiān chuīniú kǎndàshān.

The most effective way to kill time, of course, is chatting, bragging, and having wild conversations.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 侃 (kǎn) mean in Chinese?

侃 (kǎn) primarily means "upright and honest." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2875 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 侃 have?

侃 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 侃?

The radical associated with 侃 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.

What are the components of 侃?

侃 is composed of: 亻 (structural), undefined (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻⿱口川 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 侃?

Common words with 侃 include: 调侃 (tiáo kǎn, "to ridicule"); 侃侃而谈 (kǎn kǎn ér tán, "to speak frankly with assurance"); 侃大山 (kǎn dà shān, "to chatter idly"); 侃价 (kǎn jià, "to bargain"); 侃星 (kǎn xīng, "chatterbox"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 侃 (kǎn)?

Several characters share the pronunciation kǎn: 刊 (to print), 勘 (to investigate), 堪 ((bound form) may), 砍 (to chop), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 侃 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 侃 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 侃 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play