歉 (qiàn): to apologize, to regret, deficient
歉 (qiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to apologize.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 兼 (phonetic) and 欠 (semantic). It ranks #2103 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 歉 lack. Its radical form 欠 (yawn) appears in many related characters such as 次 (cì, next in sequence), 欢 (huān, hubbub), 歌 (gē, song).
Definitions
- to apologize
- to regret
- deficient
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 歉 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 歉
Common Compounds
歉 appears in 6 compound words: 50 as the first character, 50 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 歉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
歉字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。
qiàn zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character for "apology" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
...高”路中央横放机车阻交通 高市党部发表道歉声明
. . . gāo lù zhōng yāng héng fàng jī chē zǔ jiāo tōng gāo shì dǎng bù fā biǎo dào qiàn shēng míng
... The Gao City Party Department issued an apology statement
深夜清通风井挨批 北捷致歉允诺改善
shēn yè qīng tōng fēng jǐng āi pī běi jié zhì qiàn yǔn nuò gǎi shàn
Late at night, the ventilation shaft was criticized, and Beijie apologized and promised to improve
...!他断言“选举玩完了” 点名赖清德公开道歉
. . . ! tā duàn yán xuǎn jǔ wán wán le diǎn míng lài qīng dé gōng kāi dào qiàn
...! He asserted that "the election is over" and named Lai Qingde to publicly apologize
...央切割” 傅崐萁:民进党政府不改善也不道歉
. . . yāng qiē gē fù 崐 萁 : mín jìn dǎng zhèng fǔ bù gǎi shàn yě bù dào qiàn
... Fu Kunqi: The DPP government does not improve or apologize
我就是不道歉,你奈我何?
Wǒ jiùshì bù dàoqiàn, nǐ nài wǒ hé?
I'm not going to apologize. What are you going to do about it?
你有火柴吗?很抱歉,我不抽菸。
Nǐ yǒu huǒchái ma? hěn bàoqiàn, wǒ bù chōuyān.
"Do you have a match?" "I'm sorry, but I don't smoke."
抱歉,地铁几号线去市中心?
Bàoqiàn, dìtiě jǐ hào xiàn qù shìzhōngxīn?
Excuse me, which subway line is to the city centre?
抱歉,附近的公交车站在哪儿?
Bàoqiàn, fùjìn de gōngjiāochē zhàn zài nǎr?
Sorry, where is the nearest bus stop?
早安~抱歉,等很久了吗?
Zǎo'ān ~ bàoqiàn, děng hěn jiǔ le ma?
Morning! Sorry, did I keep you waiting?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 歉 (qiàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 歉 and 嫌?
How many strokes does 歉 have?
What is the radical of 歉?
What are the components of 歉?
What are common words containing 歉?
What characters sound the same as 歉 (qiàn)?
Is 歉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 歉 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.