hān
adjective #36,197

Meanings

  1. 1 naive
  2. 2 simple-minded (often endearingly so)
  3. 3 silly
  4. 4 sturdy / heavy (of rope)

Examples

Tā xiào de hěn hān, yīdiǎn yě bù zuòzuo.
His smile is innocent and unaffected.
Zhège háizi hān tóu hān nǎo de, rě rén xǐ'ài.
This kid is sweetly naive and very likeable.

Tips

usage
carries warmth — it describes guilelessness you find endearing, not stupidity you sneer at. Common compounds: hānhòu (good-natured and honest), hānxiào (innocent grin), Hāndòu (Chinese name for Mr. Bean — literally 'Silly Bean').

Components

radical
xīn
heart; mind
Bottom heart radical, four strokes depicting a stylised organ — three lobes and a dot. Carries the meaning: names a disposition — guileless, simple-hearted, sweetly silly. Belongs to the family of heart-as-personality chars alongside (slow), (cautious), (generous).
phonetic
gǎn
to dare (here phonetic)
Top supplies the sound — gǎn drifting to hān through a regular g/h alternation in old readings. Originally depicted a hand bravely seizing a ferocious animal; here pure phonetic, but the bold-and-simple flavour of reinforces the 'naive, unsuspicious' colour of .

In Pop Culture

先生 Hān dòu Xiānsheng
Mr. Bean
Rowan Atkinson's bumbling character — 憨豆 captures the warm, harmless silliness perfectly.

Stroke Order

hān