肖 (xiào): similar, resembling, to resemble, to be like
肖 (xiào) is a Chinese character meaning “similar.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺌ (phonetic) and ⺼ (semantic). It ranks #1990 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 肖 flesh - "in the flesh". Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).
Definitions
- similar
- resembling
- to resemble
- to be like
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 肖 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 肖
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 生肖noun | shēng xiào | one of the twelve animals symbolic of the earthly branches 地支[di4 zhi1] | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 肖恩 | xiāo ēn | Sean, Shaun or Shawn (name) |
| 肖像 | xiào xiàng | portrait (painting, photo etc) |
| 肖邦 | xiāo bāng | Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Polish pianist and composer |
| 惟妙惟肖 | wéi miào wéi xiào | to imitate to perfection |
| 不肖 | bù xiào | (literary) unlike one's parents |
| 维妙维肖 | wéi miào wéi xiào | to imitate to perfection |
| 生肖属相 | shēng xiào shǔ xiàng | birth year as designated by animal symbols (mouse, ox, tiger etc) |
| 努瓦克肖特 | nǔ wǎ kè xiāo tè | Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania |
| 肖想 | xiào xiǎng | (Tw) to dream of having (sth one cannot possibly have) |
| 肖伯纳 | xiāo bó nà | Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish-born British playwright |
| 肖似 | xiào sì | to resemble |
| 毕肖 | bì xiào | to resemble closely |
| 肖扬 | xiāo yáng | Xiao Yang (1938-), president of the PRC Supreme Court 1998-2008 |
| 逼肖 | bī xiào | to bear a close resemblance to |
| 酷肖 | kù xiào | to strikingly resemble |
肖 appears in 17 compound words: 47 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 12 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 肖 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
学习肖字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí xiāo zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering the character "肖" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.
12生肖本周运势 属羊者全面称王好运连连
1 2 shēng xiào běn zhōu yùn shì shǔ yáng zhě quán miàn chèn wáng hǎo yùn lián lián
12 zodiac signs this week's horoscope Sheep are fully called kings and good luck
明起大发横财!“三大生肖”财神加持...鼠有贵人、这动物意外奖金...
míng qǐ dà fā héng cái ! sān dà shēng xiào cái shén jiā chí . . . shǔ yǒu guì rén , zhè dòng wù yì wài jiǎng jīn . . .
Tomorrow you will make a windfall!" The three zodiac signs "God of Wealth Blessing... The rat has a nobleman, this animal accident bonus...
张苑柔:从生肖运势聊预测模型
zhāng 苑 róu : cóng shēng xiào yùn shì liáo yù cè mó xíng
Zhang Yuanrou: Let's talk about prediction models from the zodiac horoscope
老来有福!3生肖女“晚年命最好” 有人陪、有钱花、有话语...
lǎo lái yǒu fú ! 3 shēng xiào nǚ wǎn nián mìng zuì hǎo yǒu rén péi , yǒu qián huā , yǒu huà yǔ . . .
Blessed in old age! 3 zodiac women "have the best life in old age" There is someone to accompany them, money to spend, and words...
斯诺克球员锦标赛:赵心童晋级 八强赛将战肖恩·墨菲
sī nuò kè qiú yuán jǐn biāo sài : zhào xīn tóng jìn jí bā qiáng sài jiāng zhàn xiào ēn mò 菲
Snooker Players Championship: Zhao Xintong advances to the quarterfinals against Sean Murphy
墙上有一张鲍勃的肖像画。
Qiáng shàng yǒu yī zhāng bào bó de xiàoxiàng huà.
There is a portrait of Bob on the wall.
十二生肖里没有猫的原因很简单。
Shí'èr shēngxiào lǐ méiyǒu māo de yuányīn hěn jiǎndān.
The reason there is no cat among the twelve zodiac animals is simple.
国王的肖像揭晓，收获了热烈的掌声。
Guówáng de xiàoxiàng jiēxiǎo, shōuhuò le rèliè de zhǎngshēng.
The king’s portrait was unveiled to great applause.
给我弹一曲肖邦。
Gěi wǒ tán yī qǔ Xiāobāng.
Play Chopin for me.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 肖 (xiào) mean in Chinese?
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What are common words containing 肖?
What characters sound the same as 肖 (xiào)?
Is 肖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 肖 with real-time feedback
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