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). 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).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 氵 water10 strokesFrequency #3062氵 structural

Definitions

astringent

Etymology & Origin

涩

ideographicWater 氵 that cuts like a knife 刃; 止 provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰氵⿱刃止 (layout: left-right)

Components:氵structural

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	kǔ sè	bitter and astringent
羞涩	xiū sè	shy
晦涩	huì sè	difficult to understand
干涩	gān sè	dry and rough (skin)
囊中羞涩	náng zhōng xiū sè	to be embarrassingly short of money
生涩	shēng sè	unripe
艰深晦涩	jiān shēn huì sè	abstruse and unfathomable (idiom)
冷涩	lěng sè	cold and sluggish
青涩	qīng sè	underripe
涩味	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

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

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.

叠dié

0.575834 co-occurrences

羞xiū

0.551558 co-occurrences

艰jiān

0.523300 co-occurrences

懂dǒng

0.522516 co-occurrences

檐yán

0.515330 co-occurrences

苦kǔ

0.5101,092 co-occurrences

谷gǔ

0.5091,998 co-occurrences

砖zhuān

0.476306 co-occurrences

胧lóng

0.46430 co-occurrences

难nán

0.442624 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

囊中羞涩nángzhōngxiūsèHSK 7+

to have financial difficulties

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

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.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

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

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

涩谷女撞飞台女童“最重关两年”日本律师曝严...

sè gǔ nǚ zhuàng fēi tái nǚ tóng zuì chóng guān liǎng nián rì běn lǜ shī pù yán . . .

Shibuya woman hit the flying Taiwan girl "up to two years in prison", Japanese lawyer exposed...

Character Family

氵 Radical Family — Characters sharing the water radical

池chí 海hǎi 河hé 湖hú 江jiāng 流liú 汤tāng 溪xī 洋yáng 汁zhī

Related Characters

河hé 海hǎi 洋yáng 江jiāng 湖hú 溪xī 流liú 池chí 汤tāng 汁zhī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 涩 (sè) mean in Chinese?

涩 (sè) primarily means "astringent." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3062 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 涩 have?

涩 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 涩?

The radical associated with 涩 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are the components of 涩?

涩 is composed of: 氵 (structural), undefined (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵⿱刃止 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 涩?

Common words with 涩 include: 苦涩 (kǔ sè, "bitter and astringent"); 羞涩 (xiū sè, "shy"); 晦涩 (huì sè, "difficult to understand"); 干涩 (gān sè, "dry and rough (skin)"); 囊中羞涩 (náng zhōng xiū sè, "to be embarrassingly short of money"). There are over 17 compound words containing this character.

Is 涩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 涩 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 涩 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play