沾 (zhān): to moisten, to be infected by, to receive benefit or advantage through a contact

沾 (zhān) is a Chinese character meaning “to moisten.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 占 (phonetic). It ranks #2327 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 沾 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to moisten
  2. to be infected by
  3. to receive benefit or advantage through a contact

Etymology & Origin

沾

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵占 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 沾 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
沾满zhān mǎnmuddy
沾沾自喜phrasezhān zhān zì xǐimmeasurably self-satisfied
沾边verbzhān biānto have a connection with
沾染verbzhān rǎnto pollute (often fig.)
沾光verbzhān guāngto bask in the light
两手不沾阳春水liǎng shǒu bù zhān yáng chūn shuǐsee 十指不沾陽春水|十指不沾阳春水
十指不沾阳春水phraseshí zhǐ bù zhān yáng chūn shuǐ(saying) (usu. of a woman) to have no need to do household chores (washing clothes etc)
脚不沾地jiǎo bù zhān dìfeet not touching the ground (idiom)
三不沾nounsān bù zhānair ball (basketball)
沾亲带故zhān qīn dài gù(idiom) to have some sort of connection (personal or familial etc)
放射性沾染fàng shè xìng zhān rǎnradioactive contamination
沾化区zhān huà qūZhanhua, a district of Binzhou City 濱州市|滨州市, Shandong
烟酒不沾yān jiǔ bù zhānabstaining from liquor and tobacco
沾益区zhān yì qūZhanyi, a district of Qujing City 曲靖市, Yunnan
滴酒不沾phrasedī jiǔ bù zhānnever to touch a drop of alcohol
27
Total compounds
63
As first character
15
As last character
22
As middle character

沾 appears in 27 compound words: 63 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 22 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 沾 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

黏nián
0.510256 co-occurrences
染rǎn
0.475764 co-occurrences
滴dī
0.456144 co-occurrences
血xiě
0.444702 co-occurrences
泪lèi
0.43058 co-occurrences
溉gài
0.41356 co-occurrences
污wū
0.411178 co-occurrences
蘸zhàn
0.40610 co-occurrences
腥xīng
0.39836 co-occurrences
涕tì
0.39220 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

滴酒不沾dījiǔbùzhānHSK 7+

to never touch a drop of alcohol; to abstain from drinking; to be strictly teetotal

phrase
脚不沾地jiǎo bù zhān dìHSK 7+

feet not touching the ground (idiom); to run like the wind

phrase
惹草沾花rě cǎo zhān huāHSK 7+

see 沾花惹草

phrase
沾花惹草zhān huā rě cǎoHSK 7+

to fondle the flowers and trample the grass (idiom); to womanize; to frequent brothels

phrase
沾亲带故zhān qīn dài gùHSK 7+

(idiom) to have some sort of connection (personal or familial etc)

phrase
沾沾自喜zhānzhānzìxǐHSK 7+

to feel complacent; to be pleased with oneself

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

站在桥上望去,沾水缓缓向东流去。

zhàn zài qiáo shǎng wàng qù , zhān shuǐ huǎn huǎn xiàng dōng liú qù .

Standing on the bridge, I watched the water slowly flow eastward.

工商時報Mar 2026

博通200T愿景 台厂概念股沾光

bó tōng 2 0 0 T yuàn jǐng tái hǎn gài niàn gǔ zhān guāng

Broadcom's 200T Vision Boosts Taiwanese Concept Stocks

工商時報Mar 2026

...倒、众人踩 南亚科私募利多秒成云烟 集团沾光效应成泡影

. . . dǎo , zhòng rén cǎi nán yà kē sī mù lì duō miǎo chéng yún yān jí tuán zhān guāng xiào yīng chéng pāo yǐng

...With the collapse, everyone jumped on the bandwagon; the positive momentum for Nanya Technology’s private placement vanished in an instant, and the group’s spillover effect turned out to be a mirage.

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

...仔内/切割10余年心腹萧旭岑 马英九“不沾锅”性格依旧

. . . zǐ nèi qiē gē 1 0 yú nián xīn fù xiāo xù 岑 mǎ yīng jiǔ bù zhān guō xìng gé yī jiù

...After more than a decade of close collaboration, Ma Ying-jeou remains as aloof as ever

三立新聞網Mar 2026

刷牙前先沾水?医:1错误动作害刷不干净

shuā yá qián xiān zhān shuǐ ? yī : 1 cuò wù dòng zuò hài shuā bù gān jìng

Wet your toothbrush before brushing? Doctor: This one mistake prevents thorough cleaning

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

...多“洗衣神物”特价!内行一次扛两箱:白T沾粉底口红都不怕

. . . duō xǐ yī shén wù tè jià ! nèi háng yī cì gāng liǎng xiāng : bái T zhān fěn de kǒu hóng dōu bù pà

...Special deals on "laundry must-haves"! Pros stock up on two boxes at a time: No need to worry about foundation or lipstick stains on white T-shirts

Tatoeba

衣服沾上油渍怎么清洗?

Yīfu zhān shàng yóu zì zěnme qīngxǐ?

How do you clean oil stains off clothes?

Tatoeba

犯罪现场发现了一把沾满鲜血的刀。

Fànzuìxiànchǎng fāxiàn le yī bǎ zhānmǎn xiānxuè de dāo.

A knife covered in blood was recovered at the crime scene.

Tatoeba

炒蔬菜时,重要的是使用不沾锅。

Chǎo shūcài shí, zhòngyào de shì shǐyòng bùzhānguō.

When sautéing vegetables, it is important to use a non-stick pan.

Tatoeba

他看上去沾沾自喜。

Tā kànshangqu zhānzhānzìxǐ.

He looks smug.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 沾 (zhān) mean in Chinese?
沾 (zhān) primarily means "to moisten." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2327 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 沾 and 给?
沾 (zhān) and 给 (gěi) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 沾 (receive) vs 给 (give).
How many strokes does 沾 have?
沾 is written with 8 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 沾?
The radical associated with 沾 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 沾?
沾 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 占 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵占 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 沾?
Common words with 沾 include: 沾满 (zhān mǎn, "muddy"); 沾沾自喜 (zhān zhān zì xǐ, "immeasurably self-satisfied"); 沾边 (zhān biān, "to have a connection with"); 沾染 (zhān rǎn, "to pollute (often fig.)"); 沾光 (zhān guāng, "to bask in the light"). There are over 27 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 沾 (zhān)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhān: 战 (to fight), 站 (station), 展 (to spread out), 占 (to observe). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 沾 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 沾 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 沾 with real-time feedback

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

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.