软
soft; flexible
8 strokes
Dict coverage rank #633 U+8F6F
How 软 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
车 (semantic, “cart”) + 欠 (phonetic, qiàn)
How to remember it
soft · Heisig RSH #477
车 car + yawn
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Phonetic series: characters sharing the sound component 欠
Siblings built with the same phonetic component 欠 (qiàn) — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 欠 sound component | qiàn | to lack, to owe; to breathe, to yawn |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow, to puff; to brag, to boast |
| 饮 | yǐn | to swallow, to drink; a kind of drink |
| 坎 | kǎn | pit, hole; to trap, to snare; crisis |
| 钦 | qīn | to respect, to admire; royal |
| 砍 | kǎn | to hack, to chop, to cut, to fell |
| 炊 | chuī | meal; to cook, to steam |
| 嵌 | qiàn | valley, ravine; to fall into; to inlay, to set in |
| 芡 | qiàn | Gorgon plant, fox nut |
| 欿 | kǎn | sad, gloomy, discontent |
| 肷 | qiǎn | the area between the waist and hips |
Words containing 软
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 软体动物 | ruǎn tǐ dòng wù | mollusk |
| 小儿软骨病 | xiǎo ér ruǎn gǔ bìng | (medicine) rickets |
| 教学软体 | jiào xué ruǎn tǐ | (Tw) educational software; courseware |
| 应用软体 | yìng yòng ruǎn tǐ | (Tw) application software |
| 软体业 | ruǎn tǐ yè | the software industry |
| 吃人家的嘴软,拿人家的手短 | chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn | lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't rea… |
| 软骨头 | ruǎn gǔ tou | weak, cowardly person; spineless individual |
| 软实力 | ruǎn shí lì | soft power (in international relations) |
| 自由软件基金会 | Zì yóu Ruǎn jiàn Jī jīn huì | Free Software Foundation |
| 软水 | ruǎn shuǐ | soft water (cf. 硬水[ying4 shui3], hard water) |
| 软件开发 | ruǎn jiàn kāi fā | software development |
| 心软 | xīn ruǎn | to be softhearted; to be tenderhearted; to be kindhearted |
| 软化 | ruǎn huà | to soften |
| 软骨病 | ruǎn gǔ bìng | chondropathy (medicine) |
| 手软 | shǒu ruǎn | to be lenient; to relent; to be reluctant to make a hard decision; to think twice |
| 软体 | ruǎn tǐ | (of an animal) soft-bodied; (Tw) software |
| 软件平台 | ruǎn jiàn píng tái | software platform |
| 发软 | fā ruǎn | to weaken; to go soft (at the knees) |
| 耳根子软 | ěr gēn zi ruǎn | credulous |
| 软文 | ruǎn wén | advertorial |