尖 (jiān) · pointed; sharp; tapering

Meanings

1 pointed; sharp; tapering
2 shrill; piercing (of sound)
3 top; tip; peak

Characters

尖

jiān

sharp; pointed; tip

小 (small) on top of 大 (big) - something that narrows to a point.

Examples

HSK 4

这把刀非常尖。

Zhè bǎ dāo fēicháng jiān.

This knife is very sharp.

HSK 4

她发出了一声尖叫。

Tā fāchū le yī shēng jiānjiào.

She let out a shriek.

HSK 5

铅笔的尖断了。

Qiānbǐ de jiān duàn le.

The pencil tip broke.

Tips

memory

The character 尖 is 小 (small) on top of 大 (big) - something that starts big at the bottom and narrows to a point at the top.

usage

Common compounds: 尖叫 (to scream), 尖锐 (sharp/keen), 尖端 (tip/cutting-edge), 笔尖 (pen tip), 指尖 (fingertip).

Components

radical

小 xiǎo

small

The small radical sits on top, picturing the narrow tip. Xinhua indexes 尖 under 小 as its anchor, and the compound is a classic 会意 ideograph: small piled on top of large makes a tapering point. The 小 cap supplies both the visual narrowing and the dictionary lookup.

semantic

大 dà

big

The big radical sits underneath as the wide base. Combining small-on-top with big-on-bottom pictures a tapering form - wide foundation, narrow apex - the geometry of any pointed thing. This is one of the most transparent ideographic compounds in the script.