嗞 (zī) - Onomatopoeia for buzzing, sizzling, or crackling sounds & to express hesitation or uncertainty.

嗞Tone 1

zī ｜ 12 strokes ｜ radical:

志

嗞 · zī

Onomatopoeia for buzzing, sizzling, or crackling sounds;

to express hesitation or uncertainty.

Onomatopoeia for buzzing, sizzling, or crackling soundsto express hesitation or uncertainty.

Usage highlights

buzzing soundsizzling soundto hesitate in speechelectric sparkfrying sound

Synonyms

  • 吱— squeak, creak (different sound quality)
  • 嘶— hiss, sizzle (similar sizzling sound)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The bees were buzzing (蜜蜂嗞嗞叫).
  • The frying pan sizzled (煎锅嗞嗞作响).
  • He hemmed and hawed (他嗞嗞唔唔地说话).

Collocations

  • buzzing sound(嗞嗞声)
  • sizzling sound(嗞嗞响)
  • to hesitate in speech(嗞嗞唔唔)
  • electric spark(电火花嗞嗞)
  • frying sound(油炸的嗞嗞声)

Idioms

  • Buzzing and sizzling(嗞嗞作响)
  • Hemming and hawing(嗞嗞唔唔)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Primarily used as an onomatopoeic character in Chinese to mimic various continuous, high-frequency sounds.
  • Often appears in descriptive texts for cooking sounds, electrical sparks, or insect noises.
  • Can represent speech hesitation when reduplicated with other characters like 唔唔.

FAQ