霜 (shuāng): frost
霜 (shuāng) is a Chinese character meaning “frost.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 雨 (semantic) and 相 (phonetic). It ranks #2512 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 霜 rain. Its radical form 雨 (rain) appears in many related characters such as 雨 (yǔ, rain), 零 (líng, zero), 雪 (xuě, snow).
Definitions
- frost
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 霜 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 防晒霜noun | fáng shài shuāng | suntan lotion |
| 雪上加霜phrase | xuě shàng jiā shuāng | (idiom) to make matters even worse |
| 糖霜 | táng shuāng | frosting |
| 砒霜noun | pī shuāng | white arsenic |
| 冷若冰霜 | lěng ruò bīng shuāng | as cold as ice and frost (idiom, usually of woman) |
| 霜冻noun | shuāng dòng | frost |
| 冰霜noun | bīng shuāng | (literary) ice formed in freezing weather as frost or icicles etc (often used as a metaphor for moral uprightness, st... |
| 风霜noun | fēng shuāng | wind and frost |
| 金鸡纳霜noun | jīn jī nà shuāng | quinine powder |
| 饱经风霜phrase | bǎo jīng fēng shuāng | weather-beaten |
| 霜花 | shuāng huā | frost forming a pattern on a surface |
| 白霜 | bái shuāng | hoar frost |
| 霜降proper-noun | shuāng jiàng | Shuangjiang or Frost Descends, 18th of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣|二十四节气 23rd October-6th November |
| 各人自扫门前雪，莫管他家瓦上霜 | gè rén zì sǎo mén qián xuě , mò guǎn tā jiā wǎ shàng shuāng | sweep the snow from your own door step, don't worry about the frost on your neighbor's roof (idiom) |
| 无霜期noun | wú shuāng qī | frost-free period |
霜 appears in 43 compound words: 28 as the first character, 58 as the last, and 14 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 霜 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
weather-beaten; having had one's fill of hardships; having experienced the hardship of life
as cold as ice and frost (idiom, usually of woman); icy manner; frigid
(lit.) cold-resistant (idiom); (fig.) remaining strong in harsh conditions; resilient; unyielding
weather-beaten; having had one's fill of hardships; having experienced the hardship of life
as cold as ice and frost (idiom, usually of woman); icy manner; frigid
(lit.) cold-resistant (idiom); (fig.) remaining strong in harsh conditions; resilient; unyielding
Example Sentences
秋霜降临时，树叶会变成金黄色。
Qiūshuāng jiànglín shí, shùyè huì biàn chéng jīnhuángsè.
When autumn frost comes, leaves turn golden yellow.
素颜霜根本不是底妆平替,用错肤质卡粉到怀疑人生
sù yán shuāng gēn běn bù shì de zhuāng píng tì , yòng cuò fū zhì kǎ fěn dào huái yí rén shēng
Tinted moisturizer is definitely not a substitute for foundation—if you use the wrong one for your skin type, it’ll cake so badly you’ll question your life choices.
拜耳贝乐欣防晒修护面霜:敏感肌宝宝的“隐形防护盾”
bài ěr bèi lè xīn fáng shài xiū hù miàn shuāng : mǐn gǎn jī bǎo bǎo de yǐn xíng fáng hù dùn
Bayer Beloxin Sun Protection and Repair Cream: An "Invisible Shield" for Babies with Sensitive Skin
【直播】参议院就“北极霜”调查举行听证会
zhí bō cān yì yuàn jiù běi jí shuāng diào chá jǔ háng tīng zhèng huì
[Live] Senate Holds Hearing on the "Arctic Frost" Investigation
小7开卖香肠!霜淇淋、思乐冰第二件10元
xiǎo 7 kāi mài xiāng cháng ! shuāng 淇 lín , sī lè bīng dì èr jiàn 1 0 yuán
7-Eleven is now selling sausages! Buy one soft-serve ice cream or Slurpee, get the second for 10 yuan
...20送20到月底!7-11买2送2、全家霜淇淋下杀
. . . 2 0 sòng 2 0 dào yuè de ! 7 1 1 mǎi 2 sòng 2 , quán jiā shuāng 淇 lín xià shā
...Buy 20, get 20 free until the end of the month! Buy 2, get 2 free at 7-Eleven; FamilyMart soft-serve ice cream on sale
甲之蜜糖，乙之砒霜。
Jiǎ zhī mì táng, yǐ zhī pīshuāng.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
你能在我的背上涂些防晒霜吗？
Nǐ néng zài wǒ de bèi shàng tú xiē fángshàishuāng ma?
Can you put some suntan lotion on my back?
霜还没有开始溶化。
Shuāng hái méiyǒu kāishǐ rónghuà.
The hoarfrost hasn't yet begun to thaw.
今天早上下厚霜了。
Jīntiān zǎoshang xià hòu shuāng le.
We had a heavy frost this morning.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 霜 (shuāng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 霜 and 想?
How many strokes does 霜 have?
What is the radical of 霜?
What are the components of 霜?
What are common words containing 霜?
What characters sound the same as 霜 (shuāng)?
Is 霜 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 霜 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.