Chinese word

笑

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiào

Meaning

  • verblaugh

Example

他听到笑话就会笑。tā tīng dào xiào huà jiù huì xiào

He laughs whenever he hears a joke.

Illustration for 笑 (laugh)

More examples

他说错话后，大家都笑了。tā shuō cuò huà hòu dà jiā dōu xiào le

After he said the wrong thing, everyone laughed.

Core concept

An outward sign of amusement or reaction, shown through the face or voice and sometimes directed at someone.

Common phrases

  • 笑了xiào le

    laughed

  • 笑一笑xiào yí xiào

    smile a little

  • 笑着xiào zhe

    laughing

Similar words

微笑wēi xiào: To form a gentle, pleasant smile without showing strong amusement.
嘲笑cháo xiào: To laugh at someone to make fun of them.

Definition in Chinese

用面部表情或发声表示愉快、觉得好笑或对事物作出反应的动作。yòng miàn bù biǎo qíng huò fā shēng biǎo shì yú kuài jué de hǎo xiào huò duì shì wù zuò chū fǎn yìng de dòng zuò

Word origin

The ancient word 笑 (xiào, "laugh") first centered on making a laughing sound and later also covered the facial expression that accompanies amusement.

Usage tips

  • The falling fourth tone in xiào is short and firm; keeping it distinct from the third tone in xiǎo prevents a common pronunciation mix-up.

Other meanings

  • laughternoun
  • smileverb
  • laugh atverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word