Definitions

huá (adjective) slippery; smooth
huá (verb) to slip; to slide
huá (adjective) cunning

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 滑 is structured as a phono-semantic compound, integrating the water radical 氵 with the phonetic component 骨 to indicate both meaning and sound, initially denoting physical slipperiness associated with wet or oily surfaces. Over time, this concrete meaning expanded into abstract applications, such as describing fluent yet insincere speech or cunning behavior, reflecting a metaphorical extension from tactile smoothness to social and verbal lubricity without altering its fundamental composition.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

地面很光

Dìmiàn hěn guānghuá.

The ground is very smooth.

他差点倒了。

Tā chàdiǎn huá dǎo le.

He almost slipped and fell.

我们去雪吧。

Wǒmen qù huá xuě ba.

Let's go skiing.

孩子们爱玩梯。

Háizimen ài wán huátī.

Children love playing on the slide.

他擅长板运动。

Tā shàncháng huábǎn yùndòng.

He is good at skateboarding.

这个机器使用轮。

Zhège jīqì shǐyòng huálún.

This machine uses pulleys.

他的表演很稽。

Tā de biǎoyǎn hěn huájī.

His performance is very funny.

在冰面上走路容易倒。

Zài bīng miàn shang zǒulù róngyì huá dǎo.

It's easy to slip and fall when walking on ice.