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

HSK 7-9
Tā xiào de hěn hān, yìdiǎn yě bù zuòzuo.
His smile is innocent and unaffected.
HSK 7-9
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: 憨厚 (good-natured and honest), 憨笑 (innocent grin), 憨豆 (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