Chinese word

矮

Pronunciation

Pinyinǎi

Meaning

  • adjectiveshort

Example

他比我矮。tā bǐ wǒ ǎi

He is shorter than me.

Illustration for 矮 (short)

More examples

她个子矮，但很灵活。tā gè zi ǎi dàn hěn líng huó

She is short in stature, but very agile.

Core concept

A person whose head appears lower than nearby people because of limited height.

Common phrases

  • 个子矮gè zi ǎi

    be short in stature

  • 长得矮zhǎng de ǎi

    be short

  • 比...矮bǐ ǎi

    be shorter than ___

Similar words

低dī: Lower in height, position, level, amount, sound, or temperature.
高gāo: Higher in height, position, level, amount, sound, or temperature.

Definition in Chinese

指人的身高较低，个子不高。zhǐ rén de shēn gāo jiào dī gè zi bù gāo

Word origin

The character 矮 (ǎi, "short") is a phono-semantic formation of 矢 (shǐ, "arrow") + 委 (wěi, "entrust"), with 委 mainly supplying the sound and the whole form tied to low human stature.

Usage tips

  • A comment about another person's height can sound blunt, so comparative wording often makes the observation more neutral in everyday conversation.

Other meanings

  • small in statureadjective

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word