可愛

See also: 可爱

Chinese

		can; may; able to can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)	to love; affection; to be fond of to love; affection; to be fond of; to like
trad. (可愛)		可	愛
simp. (可爱)		可	爱
Literally: “can be loved; lovable”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kě'ài

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄜˇ ㄞˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ho² oi³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): khó-oi
• Min Nan (POJ): khóⁿ-ài / khó-ài

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: kě'ài
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄜˇ ㄞˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: keeay
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kě'ài
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ˀaɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ho² oi³
    • Yale: hó oi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ho² oi³
    • Guangdong Romanization: ho² oi³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː³⁵ ɔːy̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khó-oi
    • Hakka Romanization System: ko` oi
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ko³ oi⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /kʰo³¹ oi̯⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khóⁿ-ài
    • Tâi-lô: khónn-ài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qvofaix
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰɔ̃⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ aɪ⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khó-ài
    • Tâi-lô: khó-ài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qoyaix
    • IPA (Taipei): /kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ aɪ¹¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ aɪ²¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ aɪ²¹/

Adjective

可愛

1. cute; adorable; lovable

   他覺得你的狗很可愛。 [MSC, trad.]
   他觉得你的狗很可爱。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā juéde nǐ de gǒu hěn kě'ài. [Pinyin]

   He thinks your dog is very cute.

2. (Internet slang, ACG, of a male) feminine; effeminate

Synonyms

• (cute):

Dialectal synonyms of 可愛 (“adorable; lovable; cute”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		可愛
Mandarin	Beijing	可疼, 可人疼, 可愛
	Taiwan	可愛
	Jinan	喜歡人, 喜人
	Xi'an	心疼, 得人愛
	Wuhan	逗人疼, 逗人喜歡
	Chengdu	愛人, 逗人愛, 乖
	Yangzhou	討喜
	Hefei	心疼人
Cantonese	Guangzhou	得人愛, 得意
	Hong Kong	得意
	Taishan	得意
	Yangjiang	得人愛
Gan	Nanchang	討人喜歡
Hakka	Meixian	得人惜
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Liudui (S. Sixian)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Hsinchu (Hailu)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Dongshi (Dabu)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Hsinchu (Raoping)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Yunlin (Zhao'an)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
Jin	Taiyuan	粘人, 惜人, 親, 奇特
Min Bei	Jian'ou	好惜
Min Dong	Fuzhou	好疼
Min Nan	Xiamen	得人疼, 古錐, 古傑
	Quanzhou	得人疼, 古錐
	Zhangzhou	得人疼, 得人惜, 古錐
	Taipei	得人疼, 得人惜, 古錐
	Penang (Hokkien)	趣味
	Manila (Hokkien)	古錐, 得人疼
	Chaozhou	好惜
Wu	Suzhou	討人喜歡
	Wenzhou	有趣, 有趣相
Xiang	Changsha	逗人愛, 帶愛相, 愛人
	Shuangfeng	帶愛相, 乖

Antonyms

• (cute): 可惡／可恶 (kěwù), 可憎 (kězēng)

Noun

可愛

1. (colloquial) cutie; cutie pie; darling

   你是我的小可愛。 / 你是我的小可爱。  ―  Nǐ shì wǒ de xiǎo kě'ài.  ―  You're my little cutie.

Synonyms

edit

• 圞心／𪢮心 (Xiang)
• 圞心蒂子／𪢮心蒂子 (Xiang)
• 寶寶／宝宝 (bǎobao)
• 寶貝／宝贝 (bǎobèi)
• 小心肝 (xiǎoxīngān) (figurative)

• 心肝 (xīngān) (figurative)
• 心肝寶貝／心肝宝贝 (xīngān bǎobèi)
• 甜心 (tiánxīn)
• 親愛的／亲爱的 (qīn'ài de)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (可愛):

• → Korean: 가애 (可愛, gaae)
• → Vietnamese: khả ái (可愛)

See also

• (Japanese) 可愛(かわい)い (kawaii)

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Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
可	愛

Adjective

可愛

1. Hán tự form of khả ái (“lovable, likable, nice”).