显 xiǎn clear
clear; evident; to show
How it came to be
The sun over fine silk threads, held up to the light. Light through silk shows whether the weave is even. The character is a test, and it means the thing showed.
How it is used
- Core meaning "to show/be evident"; rarely a standalone word, mostly a productive building block.
- 显得 xiǎnde is a verb that takes an adjective and means "comes across as/seems" based on outward appearance - 她今天显得很累 tā jīntiān xiǎnde hěn lèi, "she seems very tired today".
- 显然 xiǎnrán is a sentence-initial adverb for "clearly/obviously", stating the speaker's own conclusion, distinct from 好像 hǎoxiàng (seems, based on uncertain evidence).
- 显示 xiǎnshì is neutral "to display/indicate" (screens, data, results), while 显得 is about subjective impression - don't swap them.
Characters built with 显
Words with 显
- 明显míngxiǎnclearHSK 5
- 显得xiǎndeto seemHSK 5
- 显然xiǎnránclearlyHSK 5
- 显示xiǎnshìto showHSK 5
- 显著xiǎnzhùoutstandingHSK 6
- 凸显tūxiǎnto stand out clearlyHSK 8
- 显微镜xiǎnwēijìngmicroscopeHSK 8
- 显性xiǎnxìngvisibleHSK 9
- 显现xiǎnxiànappearanceHSK 9
- 显眼xiǎnyǎnconspicuousHSK 9
- 显示器xiǎnshìqìdisplay deviceHSK 9
- 显而易见xiǎn’éryìjiànclearly and easy to see (idiom)HSK 9
- 显赫xiǎnhèillustriousHSK 9
- 显露xiǎnlùto become visibleHSK 9
- 浅显qiǎnxiǎneasy to understandHSK 9