涩 (sè): astringent
涩 (sè) is a Chinese character meaning “astringent.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (structural), 刃 (structural) and 止 (structural). It ranks #3062 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 涩 water 氵 that cuts like a knife 刃; 止 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 河 (hé, river), 海 (hǎi, sea), 洋 (yáng, ocean).
Definitions
- astringent
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWater 氵 that cuts like a knife 刃; 止 provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰氵⿱刃止 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 涩 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 苦涩adjective | kǔ sè | bitter and astringent |
| 羞涩adjective | xiū sè | shy |
| 晦涩adjective | huì sè | difficult to understand |
| 干涩adjective | gān sè | dry and rough (skin) |
| 囊中羞涩phrase | náng zhōng xiū sè | to be embarrassingly short of money |
| 生涩adjective | shēng sè | unripe |
| 艰深晦涩 | jiān shēn huì sè | abstruse and unfathomable (idiom) |
| 冷涩 | lěng sè | cold and sluggish |
| 青涩adjective | qīng sè | underripe |
| 涩味noun | sè wèi | acerbic (taste) |
| 脱涩 | tuō sè | to remove astringent taste |
| 酸涩 | suān sè | sour |
| 涩脉 | sè mài | sluggish pulse |
| 蹇涩 | jiǎn sè | awkward |
| 讷涩 | nè sè | clumsy in speech |
涩 appears in 17 compound words: 12 as the first character, 88 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 涩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
清晨的涩面波光粼粼，倒映着岸边的柳树。
qīng chén de sè miàn bō guāng 粼 粼 , dǎo yìng zhe àn biān de liǔ shù .
The still waters shimmered in the early morning light, reflecting the willow trees along the shore.
邓婕同样有过羞涩，一开始站在聚光灯下，放不开自己。
dèng 婕 tóng yàng yǒu guò xiū sè , yī kāi shǐ zhàn zài jù guāng dēng xià , fàng bù kāi zì jǐ .
Deng Jie was also shy at one point; when she first stepped into the spotlight, she couldn’t quite let her guard down.
适宜人群：初秋燥热、熬夜乏力、咽喉干涩、皮肤干燥人群。
shì yí rén qún : chū qiū zào rè , āo yè fá lì , yān hóu gān sè , pí fū gān zào rén qún .
Recommended for: People experiencing dry heat in early fall, fatigue from staying up late, a dry throat, or dry skin.
它仅仅翻译晦涩的对白，迷路时调出攻略，或是陷入僵局时给出一点线索。
tā jǐn jǐn fān yì huì sè de duì bái , mí lù shí diào chū gōng lüè , huò shì xiàn rù jiāng jú shí gěi chū yī diǎn xiàn suǒ .
It simply translates obscure dialogue, pulls up a walkthrough when you get lost, or offers a hint when you're stuck.
台湾女童在涩谷被撞 日本律师分析撞人女恐触法
tái wān nǚ tóng zài sè gǔ bèi zhuàng rì běn lǜ shī fēn xī zhuàng rén nǚ kǒng chù fǎ
Taiwanese girl was hit in Shibuya, Japanese lawyer analyzes that hitting a woman is afraid of violating the law
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 涩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 涩 with real-time feedback
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