肌肉
jīròu
To say muscle in Chinese, use 肌肉 (jīròu). If unsure, use 肌肉. Wiktionary also lists 筋肉 (jīnròu).
Meaning: contractile tissue (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 肌肉 | jīròu |
| 筋肉 | jīnròu |
A muscular man is a 肌肉男 (jīròunán).
What does it mean word for word?
肌 (jī) refers to muscle or flesh, and 肉 means flesh or meat.
Which one should you use?
筋肉 (jīnròu) is a more literary variant sometimes seen in biological or anatomical contexts. On its own, 筋 usually means tendon and in cooking it refers to the tough parts of meat.
How do you pronounce it?
In pinyin it is jīròu, with a high level tone and then a falling tone.
Did you know?
- Chinese uses the character 肉 as a radical in many words related to the body, appearing as ⽉ on the left side of characters like 肩 ('shoulder') or 脚 ('foot').
- When ordering food, if you ask for 'meat' using 肉, you are likely to receive pork by default in many regions of China, rather than a general selection of muscle tissue.
- The term 肌肉男 is often used as a slangy, slightly reductive label for 'gym bros' or men who are perceived as overly obsessed with their physique.
Examples in context
- 勇气是非常重要的。比如肌肉，经常使用才得以加强。Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.Here courage is compared to a 肌肉 that grows stronger with use.Tatoeba #4844832 by pig8322, translation #4835799 by bandeirante
- 他的肌肉发达。He has well-developed muscles.
- 我在锻炼时拉伤了肌肉。I strained my muscle while exercising.
- 他的肌肉很大。He has big muscles.
- 你的肌肉很厉害！You have great muscles!
- 这种运动可以锻炼你的肌肉。Zhè zhǒng yùndòng kěyǐ duànliàn nǐ de jīròu.This kind of exercise can train your muscles.
Example conversation
At the gym, discussing a workout routine.
- 雨婷 Yuting你最近在练哪里的肌肉？Nǐ zuìjìn zài liàn nǎlǐ de jīròu?Which muscles have you been training lately?
- 伟 Wei我主要是在练腿部肌肉。Wǒ zhǔyào shì zài liàn tuǐbù jīròu.I am mainly training my leg muscles.
- 雨婷 Yuting伟，你的腿部肌肉看起来很结实。Wěi, nǐ de tuǐbù jīròu kàn qǐlái hěn jiēshi.Wei, your leg muscles look very solid.
- 伟 Wei谢谢，我也一直在坚持练习。Xièxiè, wǒ yě yīzhí zài jiānchí liànxí.Thanks, I have been consistently practicing as well.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “muscle” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
