How to say “laugh” in Chinese
laugh, smile
“Laugh” in Chinese is 笑, xiào: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
笑 is read xiào. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On top, 竹 “bamboo”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “笑”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 笑. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 孩子一会儿哭，一会儿笑。háiziyíhuìrkū,yíhuìrxiàoThe child cries one moment and laughs the next.
- 大家都笑起来了。dàjiādōuxiàoqǐlaileEveryone burst out laughing.
- 大家都笑了，她却哭了。dàjiādōuxiàole,tāquèkūleEveryone laughed, but she cried.
- 她笑着跟我打招呼。tāxiàozhegēnwǒdǎzhāohuShe greeted me with a smile.
- 别生气我只是开玩笑biéshēngqì,wǒzhǐshìkāiwánxiàoDon't be mad, I'm just joking.
- 这部电视剧特别好笑。zhèbùdiànshìjùtèbiéhǎoxiàoThis series is really funny.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Interesting or boring”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “laugh” in Chinese?
“Laugh” in Chinese is 笑, pinyin xiào.
What does 笑 mean?
笑 (xiào) means “laugh, smile”.
How do you write 笑?
笑 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 笑?
笑 is read xiào. Tones: xiào — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“laugh” in the lesson “Interesting or boring”
This word is from the topic “Leisure and health” of HSK 2. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free