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
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): khóⁿ-ài / khó-ài

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ko² ain³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kě'ài
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄜˇ ㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kě-ài
    • Wade–Giles: kʻo³-ai⁴
    • Yale: kě-ài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: keeay
    • Palladius: кэай (kɛaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ˀaɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ho² oi³
    • Yale: hó oi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ho² oi³
    • Guangdong Romanization: ho² oi³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː³⁵ ɔːi̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khó-oi
    • Hakka Romanization System: ko` oi
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ko³ oi⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /kʰo³¹ oi̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khóⁿ-ài
    • Tâi-lô: khónn-ài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qvofaix
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰɔ̃⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ ai⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khó-ài
    • Tâi-lô: khó-ài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qoyaix
    • IPA (Taipei): /kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ai¹¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ai²¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ai²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ko² ain³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khó àiⁿ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰo⁵²⁻³⁵ ãĩ²¹³/

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
	Singapore	可愛
Cantonese	Guangzhou	得人愛, 得人中意, 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
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	得人惜, 卡哇伊
Jin	Taiyuan	粘人, 惜人, 親, 奇特
Northern Min	Jian'ou	好惜, 得人怒
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	好疼
Southern Min	Xiamen	得儂疼, 古錐, 古傑
	Quanzhou	得儂疼, 古錐
	Zhangzhou	得儂疼, 得儂惜, 古錐
	Tainan	得儂疼, 得儂惜, 古錐
	Penang (Hokkien)	趣味
	Singapore (Hokkien)	古錐
	Manila (Hokkien)	古錐, 得儂疼
	Datian	得儂惜
	Chaozhou	好惜
	Shantou	好惜, 得儂惜, 可愛
	Jieyang	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

• (antonym(s) of “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。 [MSC, trad.]
   你是我的小可爱。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ shì wǒ de xiǎo kě'ài. [Pinyin]

   You're my little cutie.

Synonyms

• 圞心／𪢮心 (lonn² sin¹) (Xiang)
• 圞心蒂子／𪢮心蒂子 (lonn² sin¹ di⁴ zr) (Xiang)
• 寶寶／宝宝
• 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):

• → Japanese: 可(か)愛(あい) (kāi)
• → Korean: 가애(可愛) (gaae)
• → Vietnamese: khả ái (可愛)

See also

• (Japanese) 可愛(かわい)い (kawaii)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
可	愛

Adjective

可愛

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