shēn

dark [colour]; deep

HSK Level 3

Example Sentences

他很深爱她。

tā hěn shēn ài tā.

He loves her deeply.

这个湖很深。

zhè ge hú hěn shēn.

This lake is very deep.

他很有学问,很有深度。

tā hěn yǒu xué wèn, hěn yǒu shēn dù.

He is very knowledgeable and has a lot of depth.

Synonyms

深奥 (shēn ào)

profound

深刻 (shēn kè)

deep

Antonyms

(qiǎn)

shallow

(fú)

superficial

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Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 深 (shēn) is composed of two parts: the radical 氵(shuǐ), which represents water, and the phonetic component 沈 (chén), which means "to sink" or "to immerse". The character 深 originally meant "deep water" or "abyss", but over time it has come to be used more broadly to mean "deep" in a general sense, both physically and metaphorically. For example, it can be used to describe a deep hole, a deep voice, or a deep thought.The character 深 is also used in a number of idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 深不可测 (shēn bù kě cè) means "unfathomably deep", while the proverb 滴水穿石 (dī shuǐ chuān shí) means "constant dripping wears away the stone".The character 深 is a common character in Chinese, and it is used in a wide variety of contexts. It is an important character to learn for HSK learners, as it is essential for understanding many Chinese words and phrases.