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), 口 (structural) and 川 (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).
Definitions
- upright and honest
- cheerful
- to chat idly
Etymology & Origin
ideographicAs trustworthy 㐰 as spring-water 川
Decomposition: ⿰亻⿱口川 (layout: left-right)
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verb | tiáo kǎn | to ridicule |
| 侃侃而谈phrase | kǎn kǎn ér tán | to speak frankly with assurance |
| 侃大山verb | kǎn dà shān | to chatter idly |
| 侃价verb | kǎn jià | to bargain |
| 侃星 | kǎn xīng | chatterbox |
| 侃爷noun | kǎn yé | big talker |
| 闲侃 | xián kǎn | to chat idly |
| 侃侃adjective | kǎn kǎn | to possess assurance and composure |
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.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
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.
去年 8 月，“追觅造车”登上热搜，评论区几乎全是调侃。
qù nián 8 yuè , zhuī mì zào chē dēng shàng rè sōu , píng lùn qū jī hū quán shì diào kǎn .
Last August, “ZuiMi is building a car” trended on social media, and the comments section was almost entirely filled with jokes.
中国富豪汽车再邀胡锡进代言 网友调侃:集齐3大舆论顶流
zhōng guó fù háo qì chē zài yāo hú xī jìn dài yán wǎng yǒu diào kǎn : jí qí 3 dà yú lùn dǐng liú
Chinese luxury car brand invites Hu Xijin to be its spokesperson again; netizens joke: "Now they've got all three of the top influencers in public opinion"
...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
...First Win! Wolves' Youngster Delivers a Lackluster Debut as They Fall to TE [Daddy Talks Football 329]
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...
...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
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.
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?
How many strokes does 侃 have?
What is the radical of 侃?
What are the components of 侃?
What are common words containing 侃?
What characters sound the same as 侃 (kǎn)?
Is 侃 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 侃 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.