慢 (màn): slow

Meanings

1 slow

Characters

慢

màn

slow

忄 (heart) + 曼 (extended) — an extended, unhurried heart.

Examples

请说慢一点。

Qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn.

Please speak more slowly.

他走路很慢。

Tā zǒulù hěn màn.

He walks very slowly.

慢慢来，不着急。

Mànmàn lái, bù zháojí.

Take your time, no rush.

Tips

culture

慢走 ('walk slowly') is said to departing guests, meaning 'take care' or 'goodbye.' It's a warm, traditional farewell.

usage

慢慢 (slowly/gradually) is extremely common: 慢慢来 (take your time), 慢慢学 (learn gradually).

Components

radical

忄 xīn

heart (radical form)

Left heart-radical 忄 — the side form of 心 — the indexing radical. Anchors 慢 in the family of inner-state adjectives: 快 (fast/glad), 怕 (afraid), 忙 (busy). The heart is where the leisurely or careless attitude lives.

phonetic

曼 màn

graceful; long; drawn-out

Right 曼 supplies the sound màn exactly. 曼 itself means 'long, drawn-out, graceful,' so it doubles as a strong semantic clue: a slow, drawn-out attitude. Phonetic family: 漫 (overflow), 蔓 (vine), 馒 (steamed bun) — all on the 曼 sound, all with a 'spreading, long' nuance.