HSK · Level 34
135 words
Chinese word
悄悄
Pronunciation
Pinyinqiāo qiāo
Meaning
- adverbsecretly
Example
他悄悄走出房间。tā qiāo qiāo zǒu chū fáng jiān
He secretly left the room.
More examples
她悄悄把信放进抽屉。tā qiāo qiāo bǎ xìn fàng jìn chōu tì
She secretly put the letter in the drawer.
Core concept
An action stays small and unobtrusive, whether the focus is avoiding notice or making very little noise.
Common phrases
悄悄离开qiāo qiāo lí kāi
secretly leave
悄悄告诉qiāo qiāo gào sù
secretly tell
悄悄观察qiāo qiāo guān chá
secretly observe
Similar words
偷偷tōu tōu: In secret, so that other people do not know about the action.
静静jìng jìng: In a calm and quiet way, with almost no sound or movement.
轻轻qīng qīng: In a gentle way that uses little force or movement.
悄无声息qiāo wú shēng xī: Completely silently and without attracting anyone's notice.
Definition in Chinese
悄然无声或声音很轻地做某事，强调动作轻微且不引人注意，多用作副词。qiǎo rán wú shēng huò shēng yīn hěn qīng dì zuò mǒu shì qiáng diào dòng zuò qīng wēi qiě bù yǐn rén zhù yì duō yòng zuò fù cí
Word origin
The formation 悄 (qiāo, "quiet and subdued") + 悄 (qiāo, "quiet and subdued") turns a quiet quality into a vivid manner word, linking low sound with avoiding notice.
Usage tips
- In everyday conversation, 悄悄地 (qiāoqiāo de, "quietly") commonly comes before the verb, placing the manner before the action is named.
Other meanings
- softlyadverb
- quietlyadverb
Opposites
- 当面dāng miànface-to-faceadverb
Related words
- 悄悄话qiāo qiāo huàprivate conversationnoun
- 悄悄地qiāo qiāo dìsecretlyadverb