胆 dǎn
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- ⺼ — meat, flesh
- Made of
- ⺼ meat, flesh 旦 dawn
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
胆小鬼
dǎnxiǎoguǐ
coward; scaredy-cat
Characters in this word
小 xiǎo
- Strokes
- 3
- Radical
- 小 — small, tiny, insignificant
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
鬼 guǐ
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 鬼 — ghost
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
Example phrases
- 在同伴都沉默的时候，他第一个承认错误，谁也不能说他是胆小鬼。 Zài tóngbàn dōu chénmò de shíhou, tā dì yī ge chéngrèn cuòwù, shéi yě bù néng shuō tā shì dǎnxiǎoguǐ. When all his companions stayed silent, he was the first to admit the mistake, so no one could call him a coward.
- 他怕黑，同学们都笑他是胆小鬼。 Tā pà hēi, tóngxuémen dōu xiào tā shì dǎnxiǎoguǐ. He is afraid of the dark, and his classmates all laugh at him as a scaredy-cat.
- 我才不是胆小鬼，只是不想冒险而已。 Wǒ cái bú shì dǎnxiǎoguǐ, zhǐshì bù xiǎng màoxiǎn éryǐ. I'm no coward, I just don't want to take risks.
Related words
- 大胆 dàdǎn bold; brave
- 胆 dǎn courage
- 胆小 dǎnxiǎo timid; cowardly
- 胆量 dǎnliàng courage; guts; nerve
- 胆怯 dǎnqiè timid; cowardly; lacking courage
- 提心吊胆 tíxīndiàodǎn to be very anxious; to be on tenterhooks
- 小 xiǎo small, little
- 小孩儿 xiǎoháir child
- 小姐 xiǎojiě miss, young lady
- 小朋友 xiǎopéngyǒu child, kid
- 小时 xiǎoshí hour
- 小学 xiǎoxué primary school