冷 (lěng): cold
冷 (lěng) is a Chinese character meaning “cold.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 冫 (semantic) and 令 (phonetic). It ranks #700 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 冷 ice. Its radical form 冫 (ice) appears in many related characters such as 净 (jìng, clean), 准 (zhǔn, to allow), 冬 (dōng, winter).
Definitions
- cold
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 冷 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 冷
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冷酷adjective | lěng kù | unfeeling |
| 冷冻verb | lěng dòng | to freeze (food etc) |
| 冰冷adjective | bīng lěng | ice-cold |
| 冷漠adjective | lěng mò | cold and detached towards sb |
| 耶路撒冷proper-noun | yē lù sā lěng | Jerusalem |
| 冷却verb | lěng què | (lit. and fig.) to cool |
| 冷战proper-noun | lěng zhàn | cold war |
| 冷淡adjective | lěng dàn | cold |
| 冷水noun | lěng shuǐ | cold water |
| 冷藏verb | lěng cáng | refrigeration |
| 冷笑verb | lěng xiào | to sneer |
| 冷嘲热讽phrase | lěng cháo rè fěng | frigid irony and scorching satire (idiom) |
| 冷落adjective | lěng luò | desolate |
| 冷清adjective | lěng qīng | cold and cheerless |
| 冷饮noun | lěng yǐn | cold drink |
冷 appears in 103 compound words: 74 as the first character, 17 as the last, and 10 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 冷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
as cold as ice and frost (idiom, usually of woman); icy manner; frigid
Jerusalem (the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of Israel; the claimed capital city of Palestine)
to hold an unimportant post and be neglected; to be sidelined; to be given the cold shoulder
as cold as ice and frost (idiom, usually of woman); icy manner; frigid
Showing 10 of 11 idioms containing 冷.
Example Sentences
冬天来了，天气越来越冷，记得多穿衣服。
Dōngtiān lái le, tiānqì yuèlái yuè lěng, jìde duō chuān yīfu.
Winter is here; the weather is getting colder and colder. Remember to wear more clothes.
...卡|里安納度「甜茶」大熱倒灶 英國演員爆冷封帝 《一戰再戰》成大贏家(附得獎名單)
. . . kǎ lǐ ān 納 dù tián chá dà 熱 dǎo zào yīng 國 yǎn 員 bào lěng fēng dì yī 戰 zài 戰 chéng dà 贏 jiā fù dé 獎 míng 單
...Cillian Murphy's "Sweet Tea" Fails to Deliver; British Actor Upsets to Win Best Actor; "All Quiet on the Western Front" Emerges as Big Winner (Includes Award List)
...狂飆32度熱爆!明鋒面接力「春雨連發」 冷暖交替溫差大
. . . kuáng 飆 dù 熱 bào ! míng 鋒 miàn jiē lì chūn yǔ 連 發 lěng nuǎn jiāo tì 溫 chā dà
...Soaring to a blistering 32°C! Tomorrow, the front will unleash a barrage of spring showers. A sharp temperature swing between cold and warm is expected.
...子強爆發感情金錢糾紛!女總裁砸重金力挺遭冷甩...雙方鬧上法院
. . . zǐ 強 bào 發 gǎn qíng jīn 錢 糾 紛 ! nǚ 總 cái zá chóng jīn lì tǐng zāo lěng shuǎi . . . 雙 fāng 鬧 shàng fǎ yuàn
Ziqiang erupts in emotional and financial dispute! Female CEO pours heavy investment to back him, only to be coldly rejected... Both parties end up in court.
冷甩女富商!陳子強遭控假公益「畫作捐款嘸影...
lěng shuǎi nǚ fù shāng ! 陳 zǐ 強 zāo kòng jiǎ gōng yì 畫 zuò juān kuǎn 嘸 yǐng . . .
Cold-shouldered by wealthy businesswoman! Chen Ziqiang accused of fake charity—artwork donation never materialized...
故障頻出 黃金海岸大學停用頭皮冷卻設備
gù zhàng 頻 chū 黃 jīn hǎi àn dà 學 tíng yòng 頭 pí lěng 卻 設 備
Frequent Malfunctions Prompt Gold Coast University to Suspend Scalp Cooling Devices
冬天手腳冰冷 中醫教你經絡保養術
dōng tiān shǒu 腳 bīng lěng zhōng 醫 jiào nǐ 經 絡 bǎo 養 術
Cold hands and feet in winter Chinese medicine practitioners teach you meridian maintenance techniques
用金牌当屏保,宁忠岩不过是把冷板凳坐热
yòng jīn pái dāng bǐng bǎo , nìng zhōng yán bù guò shì bǎ lěng bǎn dèng zuò rè
Using gold medals as a screen saver, Ning Zhongyan is merely warming up the cold bench.
今天很冷啊，不是吗？
Jīntiān hěn lěng ā, bùshìma?
It's a cold day, isn't it?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 冫 (ice) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 冷 (lěng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 冷 and 热?
How many strokes does 冷 have?
What is the radical of 冷?
What are the components of 冷?
What are common words containing 冷?
Is 冷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 冷 with real-time feedback
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