泼 (pō): to splash, to spill, rough and coarse
泼 (pō) is a Chinese character meaning “to splash.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (structural) and 发 (structural). It ranks #2260 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 泼 to send forth 发 water 氵. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- to splash
- to spill
- rough and coarse
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo send forth 发 water 氵
Decomposition: ⿰氵发 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 泼 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 泼
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 泼妇 | pō fù | shrew |
| 泼冷水 | pō lěng shuǐ | to pour cold water on |
| 泼辣 | pō la | shrewish |
| 撒泼 | sā pō | to make an unreasonable scene |
| 瓢泼大雨 | piáo pō dà yǔ | downpour (idiom) |
| 泼水节 | pō shuǐ jié | Songkran (Thai New Year) |
| 泼出去的水 | pō chū qù de shuǐ | spilt water |
| 泼水难收 | pō shuǐ nán shōu | water once spilt cannot be retrieved (idiom) |
| 瓢泼而下 | piáo pō ér xià | (of rain) to fall heavily |
| 油泼面 | yóu pō miàn | see 油潑扯麵|油泼扯面[you2 po1 che3 mian4] |
| 泼物 | pō wù | evil creature (curse word) |
| 泼烟花 | pō yān huā | low-class prostitute |
| 泼水 | pō shuǐ | to splash water |
| 油泼扯面 | yóu pō chě miàn | broad, belt-shaped noodles, popular in Shaanxi, also known as 𰻞𰻞麵|𰻝𰻝面[biang2 biang2 mian4] |
| 泼脏水 | pō zāng shuǐ | (fig.) to sling mud at |
泼 appears in 24 compound words: 63 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 17 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 泼 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
清晨的泼面波光粼粼，倒映着岸边的柳树。
qīng chén de pō miàn bō guāng 粼 粼 , dǎo yìng zhe àn biān de liǔ shù .
The rippling surface of the pond glistened in the early morning light, reflecting the willow trees along the shore.
卷入爱泼斯坦案件,美国前财长萨默斯从哈佛辞职
juǎn rù ài pō sī tǎn àn jiàn , měi guó qián cái cháng sà mò sī cóng hā fó cí zhí
Involved in the Epstein case, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers resigned from Harvard
川普有意对伊朗动手,惨遭美军最高将领泼冷水:“报告总统,我们的弹药库快空了”
chuān pǔ yǒu yì duì yī lǎng dòng shǒu , cǎn zāo měi jūn zuì gāo jiāng lǐng pō lěng shuǐ : bào gào zǒng tǒng , wǒ men de dàn yào kù kuài kōng le
Trump intended to take action against Iran and was poured cold water on the top general of the US military: "Report to the president, our ammunition depot is almost empty"
英国前驻美大使曼德尔森因涉爱泼斯坦丑闻被捕
yīng guó qián zhù měi dà shǐ 曼 dé ěr sēn yīn shè ài pō sī tǎn chǒu wén bèi bǔ
Former British ambassador to the United States Mandelson was arrested in connection with the Epstein scandal
桃园人妻晨间泼酸毁夫双眼 获缓刑理由曝光
táo yuán rén qī chén jiān pō suān huǐ fū shuāng yǎn huò huǎn xíng lǐ yóu pù guāng
Taoyuan wife splashed acid in the morning and destroyed her husband's eyes, and the reason for the suspended sentence was exposed
独家/疑不满出餐太慢! 复古咖啡厅男乱泼美式
dú jiā yí bù mǎn chū cān tài màn ! fù gǔ kā fēi tīng nán luàn pō měi shì
Exclusive/Suspected that the food is too slow! Retro café men splash American style
爱泼斯坦没有自杀。
àipōsītǎn méiyǒu zìshā.
Epstein didn't kill himself.
他往他自己身上泼了一盆冷水。
Tā wǎng tā zìjǐ shēnshang pō le yī pén lěngshuǐ.
He poured cold water over himself.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 泼 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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