撒 (sā): to let go, to cast, to let loose
撒 (sā) is a Chinese character meaning “to let go.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 散 (structural). It ranks #1436 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 撒 to scatter 散 seeds by hand 扌; 散 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to let go
- to cast
- to let loose
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo scatter 散 seeds by hand 扌; 散 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰扌散 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 撒 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 撒谎verb | sā huǎng | to tell lies |
| 撒旦proper-noun | sā dàn | Satan or Shaitan |
| 撒尿verb | sā niào | to pass water |
| 凯撒proper-noun | kǎi sā | Caesar or Kaiser (name) |
| 恺撒 | kǎi sā | Caesar (name) |
| 耶路撒冷proper-noun | yē lù sā lěng | Jerusalem |
| 弥撒noun | mí sa | (Catholic) Mass |
| 撒野verb | sā yě | to display shockingly bad behavior |
| 拿撒勒proper-noun | ná sǎ lè | Nazareth (in Biblical Palestine) |
| 撒手不管 | sā shǒu bù guǎn | to stand aside and do nothing (idiom) |
| 撒手verb | sā shǒu | to let go of sth |
| 撒气verb | sā qì | to leak (of air) |
| 撒哈拉proper-noun | sā hā lā | Sahara |
| 撒切尔proper-noun | sā qiē ěr | Thatcher (name) |
| 撒娇verb | sā jiāo | to act like a spoiled child |
撒 appears in 94 compound words: 62 as the first character, 17 as the last, and 21 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 撒 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
Jerusalem (the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of Israel; the claimed capital city of Palestine)
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 撒.
Example Sentences
他撒起袖子，开始认真地打扫房间。
tā sā qǐ xiù zǐ , kāi shǐ rèn zhēn dì dǎ sǎo fáng jiān .
He rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning the room thoroughly.
东方日报A1:窗封发泡胶板 灾民:房屋局撒谎扮盲
dōng fāng rì bào A 1 : chuāng fēng fā pāo jiāo bǎn zāi mín : fáng wū jú sā huǎng bàn máng
Oriental Daily, Page A1: Foam panels used to seal windows; Disaster victims: Housing Bureau is lying and turning a blind eye
陆官媒社评讽高市访美“政治秀”:狂撒千亿美金巨额保护费
lù guān méi shè píng fěng gāo shì fǎng měi zhèng zhì xiù : kuáng sā qiān yì měi jīn jù é bǎo hù fèi
Chinese state media editorial mocks Kaohsiung’s visit to the U.S. as a “political stunt”: lavishly spending $100 billion in “protection money”
影音/伊朗空袭平民区! 飞弹掉耶路撒冷旧城 仅离圆顶清真寺500m
yǐng yīn yī lǎng kōng xí píng mín qū ! fēi dàn diào 耶 lù sā lěng jiù chéng jǐn lí yuán dǐng qīng zhēn sì 5 0 0 m
Video/Iran Strikes Civilian Area! Missile Lands in Jerusalem's Old City, Just 500 Meters from the Dome of the Rock
高雄惊传毒鸽!妇人撒不明白米 鸽子瞬间坠地亡
gāo xióng jīng chuán dú gē ! fù rén sā bù míng bái mǐ gē zǐ shùn jiān zhuì dì wáng
Shocking Report of Poisoned Pigeons in Kaohsiung! Woman Scatters Uncooked Rice; Pigeon Plummets to the Ground and Dies Instantly
大年初六发钱了!胡瓜豪撒“9999元”大红包 民众掷圣筊手软领现...
dà nián chū liù fā qián le ! hú guā háo sā 9 9 9 9 yuán dà hóng bāo mín zhòng zhì shèng 筊 shǒu ruǎn lǐng xiàn . . .
The money was paid on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year! Hugua Hao Sa "9999 yuan" big red envelope The people threw the holy bamboo and received it softly...
杰克,不要那么撒野。
Jiékè, bù yào nàme sāyě.
Don't be so wild, Jack.
那嫌疑犯对侦察官撒了个谎。
Nà xiányífàn duì zhēnchá guān sā le gè huǎng.
The suspect told a lie to the inspector.
撒哈拉沙漠广袤无垠。
Sǎhālā Shāmò guǎngmào wúyín.
The Sahara is a vast desert.
我想汤姆也撒谎了。
Wǒ xiǎng Tāngmǔ yě sāhuǎng le.
I thought Tom was lying, too.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 撒 (sā)?
Is 撒 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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