潮

cháo

tide

damp; moist; humid; fashionable; trendy; (coll.) inferior; substandard

Water (氵) + sound of cháo (朝) = the tide

朝 gives the sound cháo; the water radical anchors the meaning in rising and falling water. The leap to 'damp' and 'trendy' both follow from tides: moisture that lingers, and waves that set the moment's direction.

氵+朝→潮
朝MorningPhonetic
氵WaterSemantic

海边的空气很潮,衣服总是干不了。

hǎi biān de kōng qì hěn cháo,yī fu zǒng shì gān bù liǎo。

The air by the sea is very damp, so clothes never dry.

他穿得很潮,走在街上很多人都看他。

tā chuān de hěn cháo,zǒu zài jiē shàng hěn duō rén dōu kàn tā。

He dresses very trendily, and many people look at him when he walks down the street.

Words with 潮

思潮

sī cháo

tide of thought

风潮

fēng cháo

tempest

潮州

cháo zhōu

see 潮州市[Chao2 zhou1 Shi4]

心血来潮

xīn xuè lái cháo

to be prompted by a sudden impulse

钱塘潮

qián táng cháo

tidal bore of the Qiantang River 錢塘江|钱塘江[Qian2 tang2 Jiang1] in Zhejiang

防潮

fáng cháo

damp proof

防潮堤

fáng cháo dī

tide embankment

防潮垫

fáng cháo diàn

groundsheet (for camping etc)

顺潮

shùn cháo

favorable tide

风暴潮

fēng bào cháo

storm surge

风起潮涌

fēng qǐ cháo yǒng

lit. wind rises, tide bubbles up

高低潮

gāo dī cháo

the tide

More characters with 氵

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