Chinese word

矮小

Pronunciation

Pinyinǎi xiǎo

Meaning

  • adjectiveshort

Example

她的身材有点矮小。tā de shēn cái yóu diǎn ái xiǎo

She is a little short.

Illustration for 矮小 (short)

More examples

在高楼群中，那座老房子显得有些矮小。zài gāo lóu qún zhōng nà zuò lǎo fáng zi xiǎn de yǒu xiē ái xiǎo

That old house looks somewhat small among the high-rise buildings.

Core concept

A noticeably low height combined with a small overall build, creating an impression of reduced physical size.

Common phrases

  • 比同龄人矮小bǐ tóng líng rén ái xiǎo

    shorter than one's peers

  • 身材矮小shēn cái ái xiǎo

    short in stature

Similar words

矮ǎi: Short in height, describing a person or animal without focusing on overall size.
个子不高gè zi bù gāo: Not tall in stature, expressed gently when describing a person.
低矮dī ǎi: Low in height and close to the ground, often describing a building or other object.

Definition in Chinese

表示身高或体型在同类中显著偏低或偏小，有时含评价色彩，常见于较正式的语境。biǎo shì shēn gāo huò tǐ xíng zài tóng lèi zhōng xiǎn zhù piān dī huò piān xiǎo yǒu shí hán píng jià sè cǎi cháng jiàn yú jiào zhèng shì de yǔ jìng

Word origin

矮 (ǎi, "low or short") + 小 (xiǎo, "small") combines low height with reduced size, so the word describes more than height alone.

Usage tips

  • For a person's appearance, this adjective can sound evaluative rather than purely factual, so it fits careful description better than casual comments about someone's body.

Other meanings

  • smalladjective

Opposites

  • 高壮gāo zhuàngtall and well-builtadjective

Word lists with this word