嫩

nèn
adjective HSK 7-9 #7,421

Meanings

  1. 1 tender
  2. 2 soft
  3. 3 young and inexperienced

Examples

HSK 3
Zhèkuài niúròu hěn nèn.
This piece of beef is very tender.
HSK 7-9
Chūntiān de nènyá tèbié hǎokàn.
The tender buds in spring are especially beautiful.

Tips

usage
嫩 can describe food texture (tender), plant growth (young/fresh), skin (soft/delicate), or a person's inexperience (green/raw). Context determines the meaning.

Components

radical
女 nǚ
woman
Left woman radical - a kneeling figure with crossed arms. Carries the meaning here: 嫩 describes the soft, delicate, youthful quality of tender meat, fresh greens, baby skin, and gentle complexion. Indexes the character in the same family as 妙 wonderful, 娇 delicate, 婉 graceful.
phonetic
敕 chì
imperial decree (here phonetic)
Right side 敕 supplies the sound - chì drifting to nèn through an old phonetic series shared with 嬾 to be lazy. The 'imperial decree' meaning is not active; 敕 is purely a sound tag, paired with the woman radical to fix the 'soft, fresh, youthful' core sense of 嫩.

Stroke Order

嫩 nèn