损 (sǔn): to decrease, to lose, to damage, to harm, (coll.) to ridicule, to deride
损 (sǔn) is a Chinese character meaning “to decrease.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 员 (phonetic). It ranks #911 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 损 hand. 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 decrease
- to lose
- to damage
- to harm
- (coll.) to ridicule
- to deride
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 损 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 损
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 损失verb/noun | sǔn shī | loss | 5 |
| 损伤verb | sǔn shāng | to harm | 6 |
| 损坏verb | sǔn huài | to damage | 6 |
| 损害verb | sǔn hài | harm | 5 |
| 亏损verb | kuī sǔn | deficit | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 受损verb | shòu sǔn | to suffer damage |
| 完好无损phrase | wán hǎo wú sǔn | in good condition |
| 磨损verb | mó sǔn | to suffer wear and tear |
| 破损verb | pò sǔn | to become damaged |
| 无损verb | wú sǔn | to do no harm (to sth) |
| 损毁verb | sǔn huǐ | to damage |
| 缺损verb | quē sǔn | defective |
| 有损 | yǒu sǔn | to be harmful (to) |
| 损耗verb | sǔn hào | loss |
| 毁损verb | huǐ sǔn | impair, damage |
| 劳损verb | láo sǔn | strain (medicine) |
| 贬损verb | biǎn sǔn | to mock |
| 损人利己verb | sǔn rén lì jǐ | harming others for one's personal benefit (idiom) |
| 消损verb | xiāo sǔn | wear and tear |
| 耗损verb | hào sǔn | to waste |
损 appears in 63 compound words: 24 as the first character, 51 as the last, and 25 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 损 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
fractures or other injuries from falls, blows, contusions, sprains and so on; all musculoskeletal injuries
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 损.
Example Sentences
这次事故造成了严重的财产损失。
Zhè cì shìgù zàochéng le yánzhòng de cáichǎn sǔnshī.
This accident caused serious property damage.
...酒对宝宝有没有影响?出生后能通过干预弥补损伤吗
. . . jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? chū shēng hòu néng tōng guò gān yù mí bǔ sǔn shāng ma
... Does wine affect the baby? Can the damage be compensated for by intervention after birth?
...了酒对宝宝有没有影响?一次醉酒会造成永久损伤吗
. . . le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? yī cì zuì jiǔ huì zào chéng yǒng jiǔ sǔn shāng ma
... Does alcohol affect the baby? Can a single drunkenness cause permanent damage?
【企业盈警】极智嘉(02590)料去年亏损降至最多3000万人币,经调整转亏为盈
qǐ yè yíng jǐng jí zhì jiā liào qù nián kuī sǔn jiàng zhì zuì duō wàn rén bì , jīng diào zhěng zhuǎn kuī wéi yíng
Jizhijia (02590) expects its loss to drop to a maximum of 30 million yuan last year, and it has been adjusted to turn a loss into a profit
从亏损到赚钱 速腾聚创靠机器人翻身
cóng kuī sǔn dào zhuàn qián sù téng jù chuàng kào jī qì rén fān shēn
From loss to money, Suteng Juchuang relies on robots to turn over
川普关税政策多变 陈冠廷:ART价值未减损、应加速国会审议
chuān pǔ guān shuì zhèng cè duō biàn chén guàn tíng jià zhí wèi jiǎn sǔn yīng jiā sù guó huì shěn yì
Trump's Tariff Policies Remain Unpredictable; Chen Guanting: ART Value Uncompromised, Congressional Review Should Be Expedited
他们状告政府赔偿损失。
Tāmen zhuànggào zhèngfǔ péicháng sǔnshī.
They sued the government for damages.
汤姆看起来毫发无损。
Tāngmǔ kànqǐlai háofà wú sǔn.
Tom looked like he was unfazed by that.
汤姆试图敲碎一颗核桃而不损坏果仁。
Tāngmǔ shìtú qiāo suì yī kē hétao ér bù sǔnhuài guǒrén.
Tom tried to crack a walnut without damaging its kernel.
请不要做任何有损松野家族名声的事！
Qǐng bù yào zuò rènhé yǒu sǔn sōngyě jiāzú míngshēng de shì!
Please don't do anything that would besmirch the Matsuno family name!
Character Family
Homophones — Characters pronounced sǔn
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 损 (sǔn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 损 and 增?
How many strokes does 损 have?
What is the radical of 损?
What are the components of 损?
What are common words containing 损?
What characters sound the same as 损 (sǔn)?
Is 损 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 损 with real-time feedback
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