耍 (shuǎ): to play with, to wield, to act (cool etc)
耍 (shuǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “to play with.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 而 (structural) and 女 (structural). It ranks #2204 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 耍 a woman 女 wearing a beard 而 for disguise. Its radical form 而 (and) appears in many related characters such as 而 (ér, and), 耐 (nài, (bound form) to bear).
Definitions
- to play with
- to wield
- to act (cool etc)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA woman 女 wearing a beard 而 for disguise
Decomposition: ⿱而女 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 耍 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 玩耍verb | wán shuǎ | to play (as children do) |
| 杂耍noun | zá shuǎ | a sideshow |
| 耍花招verb | shuǎ huā zhāo | to play tricks on sb |
| 耍嘴皮子verb | shuǎ zuǐ pí zi | to talk glibly |
| 耍赖verb | shuǎ lài | to act shamelessly |
| 耍弄verb | shuǎ nòng | to play with |
| 耍滑verb | shuǎ huá | to resort to tricks |
| 戏耍 | xì shuǎ | to amuse oneself |
| 耍猴verb | shuǎ hóu | to get a monkey to perform tricks |
| 耍贫嘴verb | shuǎ pín zuǐ | (coll.) to wag one's tongue |
| 关公面前耍大刀phrase | guān gōng miàn qián shuǎ dà dāo | lit. to wield the broadsword in the presence of Lord Guan (idiom) |
| 耍得团团转 | shuǎ de tuán tuán zhuàn | to fool |
| 耍花样 | shuǎ huā yàng | to play tricks on sb |
| 耍小聪明 | shuǎ xiǎo cōng ming | to get smart |
| 耍子noun | shuǎ zi | to play |
耍 appears in 31 compound words: 84 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 3 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 耍 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
耍字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
shuǎ zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "耍" has different usages in different contexts.
川普警告“耍花招”国家将被加重关税 参院提案限180...
chuān pǔ jǐng gào shuǎ huā zhāo guó jiā jiāng bèi jiā chóng guān shuì cān yuàn tí àn xiàn 1 8 0 . . .
Trump warns of "tricks" countries will be subject to increased tariffs, Senate proposal is limited to 180...
...不住川普?加征关税被驳回后川普警告他国:耍花样将面临更狠制裁
. . . bù zhù chuān pǔ ? jiā zhēng guān shuì bèi bó huí hòu chuān pǔ jǐng gào tā guó : shuǎ huā yàng jiāng miàn lín gēng hěn zhì cái
... Can't stop Trump? After the tariffs were rejected, Trump warned other countries that they would face harsher sanctions if they played tricks
川普最新表态!警告各国若用最高法院裁决耍花样 将课更高关税
chuān pǔ zuì xīn biǎo tài ! jǐng gào gè guó ruò yòng zuì gāo fǎ yuàn cái jué shuǎ huā yàng jiāng kè gēng gāo guān shuì
Trump's latest statement! warned countries that if they use the Supreme Court ruling, they will impose higher tariffs
特朗普:任何国家如藉最高法院荒谬裁决耍花招 将面临更重关税
tè lǎng pǔ : rèn hé guó jiā rú 藉 zuì gāo fǎ yuàn huāng miù cái jué shuǎ huā zhāo jiāng miàn lín gēng chóng guān shuì
Trump: Any country that plays tricks with the absurd Supreme Court ruling will face heavier tariffs
关税政策遭裁定失效 川普警告:想耍花招会更严格
guān shuì zhèng cè zāo cái dìng shī xiào chuān pǔ jǐng gào : xiǎng shuǎ huā zhāo huì gēng yán gé
Tariff policy ruled invalid Trump warns: If you want to play tricks, it will be stricter
你没打算耍我，对吧？
Nǐ méi dǎsuàn shuǎ wǒ, duì ba?
You're not trying to trick me, are you?
我们看着这孩子玩耍。
Wǒmen kàn zhe zhè háizi wánshuǎ.
We watched the children play.
我小时候常常独自玩耍。
Wǒ xiǎoshíhou chángcháng dúzì wánshuǎ.
I used to play alone when I was a child.
孩子们非常喜欢在海滩上玩耍。
Háizimen fēicháng xǐhuan zài hǎitān shàng wánshuǎ.
Children really like playing on the beach.
Character Family
而 Radical Family — Characters sharing the and radical
Homophones — Characters pronounced shuǎ
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 耍 (shuǎ) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 耍 have?
What is the radical of 耍?
What are the components of 耍?
What are common words containing 耍?
What characters sound the same as 耍 (shuǎ)?
Is 耍 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 耍 with real-time feedback
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