凉 liáng — cool; cold
秋天的早晨，天气有些凉。Qiū tiān de zǎo chén, tiān qì yǒu xiē liáng.On an autumn morning, the weather is a bit cool.
Common words: 凉快 (liáng kuai)、凉水 (liáng shuǐ)、着凉 (zháo liáng)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "cool"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "cool", including 凉 (liáng), 酷 (kù). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words, and examples.
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "cool" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 凉 (liáng), 酷 (kù) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters do not share a sound — their readings span liáng, kù — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 凉 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 凉 liángcool; coldUseful words: 凉快, 凉水
- 酷 kùruthless; strong (as of wine); (slang loan from English) cool; greatUseful words: 残酷, 冷酷
Common words for these 2 "cool" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 凉 (liáng) — so "cool" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "cool".
酷 kù — ruthless; strong (as of wine); (slang loan from English) cool; great
这个机器人的造型十分酷炫。Zhè ge jī qì rén de zào xíng shí fēn kù xuàn.The design of this robot is very cool.
Common words: 残酷 (cán kù)、冷酷 (lěng kù)、酷似 (kù sì)
All 2 characters
Open 凉、酷 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.