chán
adjective HSK 7-9 #30,375

Meanings

  1. 1 greedy (for food)
  2. 2 gluttonous
  3. 3 to have a craving

Examples

Kàndào dàngāo wǒ jiù chán le.
I started craving it as soon as I saw the cake.
Bié chán le, děng fàn zuòhǎo zài chī.
Stop drooling; wait until the food is ready.

Tips

usage
Specifically about food cravings, not greed in general. (zuǐchán) means 'to have a greedy mouth / to be a foodie.' Often used playfully: (just looking at it makes you drool).

Components

radical
shí
food (radical form of 食)
Left food radical (side-form of ) — the indexing radical. Pictograph of food piled on a serving stand. Anchors in the eating family with meal, 饿 hungry, full, drink. Marks the entry as an appetite/food-craving word.
phonetic
rabbit (here phonetic, fused form)
Right side is a fused form of (rabbit) standing in for the phonetic of traditional , which used chán — a two-rabbit hare graph. Simplification compressed that 17-stroke structure into a 9-stroke rabbit-shape on the right. Supplies the sound chán by inherited drift; no direct rabbit-meaning link.

Stroke Order

chán