(kě ài) - cute, adorable, lovely in Mandarin
kěàiTraditional: 可愛
Translation
cute, adorable, lovely
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Word origin
可爱 means cute or lovable, literally 'able to be loved'. 可 (kě) means able or worthy of. 爱 (ài) means love; the traditional 愛 contains the 心 'heart' radical, omitted in the simplified form.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 可 (kě, worthy of) + 爱 (ài, love)
Stroke order
可
爱
Examples
！
This little cat is so cute!
。
Her smile is very adorable.
。
He is a very lovely child.
。
The neighbour's puppy is especially adorable.
。
She looks lovely when she smiles.
可爱 (kě ài) means cute, adorable, or lovely. 可 means worthy of or able to and 爱 means love, so the compound literally means loveable or worthy of love. It is used to describe children, animals, behaviour, and people as endearing. In modern internet culture 可爱 and its derivatives are extremely common in casual and social media language. The noun form 可爱 (kě ài xìng) means cuteness. It is distinct from 漂亮 (piào liàng, beautiful/pretty) which focuses on physical attractiveness.
Where this fits
Used in
Stories
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Mandarin · Free printables
可爱: worksheet, infographic and listicleThe padlock and Plus mark show a Kilo Lingo Plus feature. Start your free week to unlock it - no card needed.
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "可爱" (cute, adorable, lovely): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free week (no card)This word is taught in chapter 9, lesson 3: 可爱, 日, 抓住 and 7 more words.