悄悄 qiāoqiāo quiet
quiet; making little or no noise; surreptitious; stealthy; anxious; worried; Taiwan pr.
Characters
How it is used
- Quietly, on the sly - 他悄悄地走了 (tā qiāoqiāo de zǒu le) he slipped away quietly.
- Adverb of manner (usually 悄悄地 + verb) meaning doing something softly/stealthily so as not to be noticed. Reduplicated for vividness.
- Different from 安静 (ānjìng, quiet as an environment): 悄悄 is about acting furtively, not ambient silence. Near 偷偷 (tōutōu, secretly), which stresses concealment more.
Example sentences
- 我悄悄把信给了他。 Wǒ qiāoqiāo bǎ xìn gěi le tā.I slipped the letter to him.
- 他悄悄地递给我一张纸条。 Tā qiāoqiāodì dìgěi wǒ yīzhāng zhǐtiáo.He slipped me a note.