膠水 / 胶水
jiāoshuǐ
In Chinese, glue is translated as 膠水 / 胶水 (jiāoshuǐ). Wiktionary also lists 膠 / 胶 (jiāo) and 黏合劑 / 黏合剂 (niánhéjì).
Meaning: sticky adhesive substance (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 膠水 / 胶水 | jiāoshuǐ |
| 膠 / 胶 | jiāo |
| 黏合劑 / 黏合剂 | niánhéjì |
The term refers to a sticky adhesive substance. While 膠水 / 胶水 is the most common way to refer to liquid glue, the word 黏合劑 / 黏合剂 is used when referring to an adhesive in a more technical or professional context.
Which one should you use?
膠水 / 胶水 is the colloquial, everyday term for liquid glue. In contrast, 黏合劑 / 黏合剂 is a more technical term for 'adhesive'. The single character 膠 / 胶 can refer to glue, gum or resin in a general or classical sense, though it is often used as a component in compound words.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, glue is expressed as 膠.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To use 'glue' as a verb meaning 'to stick with glue', Chinese speakers often use the structure 用 [noun] 黏, which translates to 'use [noun] to stick'. Related verbs for joining things with glue include 黏 and 黏貼 / 黏贴.
How do you pronounce it?
jiāoshuǐ
Did you know?
- The word 膠 / 胶 is used to describe a wide variety of things English speakers do not call glue, including rubber, gelatin and plastic.
- The character 膠 / 胶 contains the radical for 'meat' or 'flesh' ⺼, because traditional glues were made by boiling animal skins and connective tissue.
- Chinese uses the word 膠 / 胶 in the term for 'glue-like' or 'sticky' situations, such as a 'deadlock' in a competition, called 膠著 / 胶着.
Examples in context
- 哎呀，我把胶水弄翻了。(Āiyā, wǒ bǎ jiāoshuǐ nòng fān le.)Oops, I spilled the glue.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “glue” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 膠, CC BY-SA 4.0.
