稳 (wěn) · stable, steady, firm

Meanings

1 stable
2 steady
3 firm

Characters

稳

wěn

stable; steady; sure

Examples

HSK 1

他开车很稳。

Tā kāichē hěn wěn.

He drives very steadily.

HSK 2

你站稳了吗？

Nǐ zhànwěn le ma?

Are you standing steady?

HSK 3

这把椅子很稳。

Zhè bǎ yǐzi hěn wěn.

This chair is very stable.

Tips

usage

稳 is very versatile: 稳定 (stable), 稳重 (composed/mature), 站稳 (stand firm), 拿稳 (hold steady). Internet slang: 稳了 means 'it's in the bag' or 'we've got this'.

Components

radical

禾 hé

grain; standing rice plant

Left grain radical 禾 - a stalk of rice or millet bowed by its head. Indexes 稳 in the agriculture family alongside 种, 秋, 稻, 私, 科. A field of grain standing without swaying gives the metaphor of steadiness - the plant must be rooted and balanced not to fall over.

phonetic

急 jí

anxious; urgent

Right component supplies the sound: 急 jí → wěn through Old Chinese sound shift - opaque in modern Mandarin. Note the simplified 稳 uses 急 where the traditional 穩 had 㥯 (woman + heart + craft); 1956 reform substituted 急 to streamline writing while keeping a graspable phonetic anchor.