嫩 (nèn): tender
嫩 (nèn) is a Chinese character meaning “tender.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 女 (semantic) and 敕 (phonetic). It ranks #2415 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 嫩 woman. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).
Definitions
- tender
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 嫩 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 黎巴嫩proper-noun | lí bā nèn | Lebanon |
| 娇嫩adjective | jiāo nen | tender and lovely |
| 稚嫩adjective | zhì nèn | young and tender |
| 嫩芽noun | nèn yá | tender shoots |
| 柔嫩adjective | róu nèn | tender |
| 白嫩adjective | bái nèn | (of skin etc) fair |
| 细嫩adjective | xì nèn | tender |
| 嫩叶noun | nèn yè | tender young leaves |
| 嫩绿noun | nèn lǜ | tender green |
| 巴尔克嫩德 | bā ěr kè nèn dé | Jan Pieter Balkenende (1956-), prime minister of the Netherlands 2002-2010 |
| 老牛吃嫩草phrase | lǎo niú chī nèn cǎo | lit. an old cow eats young grass (idiom) |
| 细皮嫩肉 | xì pí nèn ròu | soft skin and tender flesh (idiom) |
| 脸皮嫩 | liǎn pí nèn | bashful |
| 嫩江市 | nèn jiāng shì | Nenjiang, a county-level city in Heihe City 黑河市, Heilongjiang |
| 嫩主 | nèn zhǔ | newbie |
嫩 appears in 21 compound words: 38 as the first character, 43 as the last, and 19 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 嫩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
这道菜的鸡肉很嫩，入口即化，非常好吃。
Zhè dào cài de jīròu hěn nèn, rùkǒu jí huà, fēicháng hǎochī.
The chicken in this dish is very tender, melts in your mouth, and is very delicious.
以色列北部遭火箭袭击 以军轰炸黎巴嫩真主党目标
yǐ sè liè běi bù zāo huǒ jiàn xí jī yǐ jūn hōng zhà lí bā nèn zhēn zhǔ dǎng mù biāo
Northern Israel Hit by Rocket Fire; IDF Bombs Hezbollah Targets in Lebanon
全台最美粉嫩櫻花在這!交通管制、附近景點一次報你知
quán tái zuì měi fěn nèn 櫻 huā zài 這 ! jiāo tōng guǎn zhì fù jìn jǐng 點 yī cì 報 nǐ zhī
The Most Beautiful Blossoms in Taiwan Are Here! Traffic Restrictions & Nearby Attractions—All You Need to Know
防報復 美撤駐黎巴嫩使館人員
fáng 報 復 měi chè 駐 lí bā nèn shǐ 館 rén 員
Prevent retaliation The United States withdrew its embassy personnel in Lebanon
要對伊動手了?美駐黎巴嫩使館撤非緊急人員
yāo 對 yī 動 shǒu le ? měi 駐 lí bā nèn shǐ 館 chè fēi 緊 jí rén 員
Are you going to do something to him? The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon withdrew non-emergency personnel
要對伊朗動手了? 美國駐黎巴嫩大使館撤離非緊急人員
yāo 對 yī lǎng 動 shǒu le ? měi 國 駐 lí bā nèn dà shǐ 館 chè 離 fēi 緊 jí rén 員
Is the U.S. about to take action against Iran? The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon evacuates non-essential personnel.
希望你喜欢黎巴嫩菜肴。
Xīwàng nǐ xǐhuan Líbānèn càiyáo.
I hope you like Lebanese food.
你觉得汤姆是不是太嫩了？
Nǐ juéde Tāngmǔ shì bù shì tài nèn le?
Do you think Tom is too young?
“以前网络好稚嫩啊，是吧？”“不，并没有。”
"yǐqián wǎngluò hǎo zhìnèn ā, shì ba?""bù, bìng méiyǒu."
"The Internet was so innocent back then, wasn't it?" "No, it wasn't."
将羽衣甘蓝切片，放入锅中，加入橄榄油、大蒜、盐和胡椒，煮至软嫩可口。
Jiāng yǔyīgānlán qiēpiàn, fàng rù guō zhōng, jiārù gǎnlǎnyóu, dàsuàn, yán hé hújiāo, zhǔ zhì ruǎn nèn kěkǒu.
Slice the kale, and add it to a pan, with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and wait until it is soft and tasty.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 嫩 (nèn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 嫩 have?
What is the radical of 嫩?
What are the components of 嫩?
What are common words containing 嫩?
Is 嫩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 嫩 with real-time feedback
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