聊 (liáo): chat
聊 (liáo) is a Chinese character meaning “chat.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 耳 (semantic) and 卯 (phonetic). It ranks #1908 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 聊 ear. Its radical form 耳 (ear) appears in many related characters such as 闻 (wén, to hear, to smell), 职 (zhí, job, duty), 联 (lián, connect, unite).
Definitions
- chat
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 聊 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 聊
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 聊天verb | liáo tiān | to chat |
| 闲聊verb | xián liáo | to chat |
| 百无聊赖phrase | bǎi wú liáo lài | (idiom) bored to death |
| 民不聊生phrase | mín bù liáo shēng | (idiom) the people have no way to make a living (from Records of the Grand Historian 史記|史记) |
| 聊以 | liáo yǐ | to use it (or do it) for the purpose of (allaying hunger, relieving boredom etc) to some extent |
| 聊以自慰 | liáo yǐ zì wèi | to find some consolation (idiom) |
| 聊表心意 | liáo biǎo xīn yì | (idiom) to offer as a small token of one's feelings |
| 聊备一格phrase | liáo bèi yī gé | to use as a stopgap |
| 聊胜于无proverb | liáo shèng yú wú | better than nothing (idiom) |
| 聊天室noun | liáo tiān shì | chat room |
| 聊城市 | liáo chéng shì | Liaocheng, prefecture-level city in Shandong Province 山東省|山东省 |
| 聊以塞责 | liáo yǐ sè zé | in order to minimally fulfill one's responsibilities |
| 聊生verb | liáo shēng | to earn a living (esp. with negative) |
| 聊以解闷 | liáo yǐ jiě mèn | to use it for the purpose of relieving the tedium to some extent |
| 聊表寸心 | liáo biǎo cùn xīn | see 聊表心意 |
聊 appears in 30 compound words: 67 as the first character, 23 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 聊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
in order to minimally fulfill one's responsibilities; in order to get off the hook
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Qing Dynasty collection of Chinese supernatural tales)
Example Sentences
下班后我们聊了一会儿，讨论了周末的计划。
Xiàbān hòu wǒmen liáo le yíhuìr, tǎolùn le zhōumò de jìhuà.
After work, we chatted for a while and discussed weekend plans.
充斥软色情 大陆AI陪聊APP火爆背后的隐忧
chōng chì ruǎn sè qíng dà lù A I péi liáo A P P huǒ bào bèi hòu de yǐn yōu
Rife with Soft Porn: The Hidden Concerns Behind the Boom of Mainland China’s AI Chat Apps
女生聊天喜欢插嘴巴的原因,从沟通角度分析
nǚ shēng liáo tiān xǐ huān chā zuǐ bā de yuán yīn , cóng gōu tōng jiǎo dù fēn xī
The reasons why girls like to interject in chat are analyzed from a communication perspective
...锁软银打线!看徐若熙飙火球:前晚有来找我聊天
. . . suǒ ruǎn yín dǎ xiàn ! kàn xú ruò xī biāo huǒ qiú : qián wǎn yǒu lái zhǎo wǒ liáo tiān
... Lock SoftBank line! Watch Xu Ruoxi's fireball: He came to chat with me the night before
...ales Coach 应用,搭载 AI 聊天机器人
. . . yīng yòng , dā zài liáo tiān jī qì rén
...Ales Coach App, powered by AI chatbot
张苑柔:从生肖运势聊预测模型
zhāng 苑 róu cóng shēng xiào yùn shì liáo yù cè mó xíng
Zhang Yuanrou: Discussing Predictive Models Through Chinese Zodiac Fortunes
汤姆，抱歉，我没时间闲聊。
Tāngmǔ, bàoqiàn, wǒ méi shíjiān xiánliáo.
Sorry, Tom, I don't have time to chat.
你们两个无聊胚子！
Nǐmen liǎng gè wúliáo pēi zǐ!
You two bored foetuses!
每天都这样岂不是很无聊！
Měitiān dōu zhèyàng qǐbù shì hěn wúliáo!
Spending every day like this must be boring!
你跟我聊了这么久不知道我叫什么？！
Nǐ gēn wǒ liáo le zhème jiǔ bù zhīdào wǒ jiào shénme?!
You've been talking to me for so long, don't you know my name?!
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 耳 (ear) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 聊 (liáo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 聊 and 贸?
How many strokes does 聊 have?
What is the radical of 聊?
What are the components of 聊?
What are common words containing 聊?
What characters sound the same as 聊 (liáo)?
Is 聊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 聊 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.