Chinese word

淡

Pronunciation

Pinyindàn

Meaning

  • adjectivebland

Example

这汤的味道有点淡。zhè tāng de wèi dào yóu diǎn dàn

This soup tastes a little bland.

Illustration for 淡 (bland)

More examples

她化了淡妆，看起来很自然。tā huà le dàn zhuāng kàn qǐ lái hěn zì rán

She is wearing light makeup and looks very natural.

Core concept

A quality whose color, taste, or force has been thinned until it makes little impact.

Common phrases

  • 淡绿色dàn lǜ sè

    pale green

  • 淡妆dàn zhuāng

    light makeup

Similar words

清淡qīng dàn: Mildly seasoned, with little oil and a clean taste.
浅qiǎn: Pale in color or low in apparent depth, extent, or degree.
淡薄dàn bó: Low in strength, emotional feeling, influence, or impact.

Definition in Chinese

味道或色彩不浓，也可指程度不高或味道不咸（如淡水），由具体的“薄”延伸到抽象的强度较弱。wèi dào huò sè cǎi bù nóng yě kě zhǐ chéng dù bù gāo huò wèi dào bù xián rú dàn shuǐ yóu jù tǐ de báo yán shēn dào chōu xiàng de qiáng dù jiào ruò

Word origin

淡 (dàn, "bland") is built with 氵 (shuǐ, "water") for the semantic side and 炎 (yán, "flames") for the phonetic side, and the idea of a thin taste or color broadens to a generally weak degree.

Usage tips

  • In restaurant talk, this word can describe seasoning that feels too weak for the speaker, so it may sound like a mild complaint rather than a neutral description.

Other meanings

  • lightadjective
  • faintadjective

Opposites

  • 浓烈nóng lièintenseadjective

Related words

  • 淡然dàn rándetachedadjective

Word lists with this word