水性 (shuǐxìng): swimming ability

Meanings

1 swimming ability
2 characteristics of a body of water
3 aqueous/water-based (of paint etc)

Characters

水

nature/character/property

Examples

他水性好，在大海里游泳毫无问题。

Tā shuǐxìng hǎo, zài dàhǎi lǐ yóuyǒng háo wú wèntí.

He is a strong swimmer; swimming in the ocean is no problem for him.

这款水性涂料环保无味。

Zhè kuǎn shuǐxìng túliào huánbǎo wúwèi.

This water-based paint is eco-friendly and odorless.

Tips

usage

水性 has two main uses: (1) swimming ability — 水性好 means 'a good swimmer'; (2) in materials science, 水性 describes water-based substances like 水性漆 (water-based paint). The idiom 水性杨花 uses 水性 to describe fickleness (flowing like water, as changeable as willow flowers).