细

xì

thin or slender

finely particulate; thin and soft; fine; delicate; trifling; (of a sound) quiet; frugal

silk thread (纟) + sound (田) = fine and delicate

The silk radical (纟) evokes the slender, delicate threads spun from a cocoon — the very image of fineness. 田 mainly lends the sound xì here; the meaning rides entirely with the thread.

纟+田→细
田FieldPhonetic
纟Silk threadSemantic

这根线很细,用起来很方便。

zhè gēn xiàn hěn xì, yòng qǐ lái hěn fāng biàn。

This thread is very thin, and it is convenient to use.

她的手指又长又细,很好看。

tā de shǒu zhǐ yòu cháng yòu xì, hěn hǎo kàn。

Her fingers are both long and slender, and look very nice.

Words with 细

精打细算

jīng dǎ xì suàn

meticulous planning and careful accounting (idiom)

粗细

cū xì

thick and thin

精细

jīng xì

fine

细胞核

xì bāo hé

nucleus (of cell)

细腻

xì nì

(of skin etc) smooth; satiny; delicate

亚细安

yà xì ān

(Singapore, Malaysia) ASEAN

生殖细胞

shēng zhí xì bāo

germ cell; reproductive cell

精雕细琢

jīng diāo xì zhuó

see 精雕細刻|精雕细刻[jing1 diao1 xi4 ke4]

细碎

xì suì

fragments; bits and pieces

细水长流

xì shuǐ cháng liú

lit. thin streams flow forever

过细

guò xì

extremely careful

细语

xì yǔ

to chat with a low voice

More characters with 纟

绷绸绺绿绻绶综绽