性感
xìnggǎn/ɕiŋ⁵¹ kän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
To say someone is hot in Chinese, use 性感 (xìnggǎn).
The term is used to describe a person who is sexually attractive. In modern internet slang, the character 辣, which literally means 'spicy', is sometimes used to describe a woman who is 'hot' or 'sexy' in a provocative way.
Which one should you use?
The term 性感 is more equivalent to 'sexy' than the English slang 'hot', which can sometimes imply a more visceral or raw physical attractiveness.
How does it change in a sentence?
When describing someone as 'hot' or 'sexy', it is common to add the adverb 很 before 性感 to make the sentence sound natural, even if you don't mean 'very'.
How do you pronounce it?
xìnggǎn (IPA: /ɕiŋ⁵¹ kän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/)
Did you know?
- To describe someone as 'hot' in terms of popularity or trending status, Chinese speakers use 火, which means 'fire'.
- While English speakers use 'hot' to mean attractive, using the literal translation 热 (rè) to describe a person in Chinese will only imply they have a high body temperature or are suffering from heat exhaustion.
- The character 感 in 性感 means 'feeling' or 'sense', making the word literally translate to 'sex feeling' or 'sex sense'.
Examples in context
- 他真的很帅气，每个女孩都喜欢他。He is really handsome. Every girl likes him.
- 她穿这件衣服很性感。Tā chuān zhè jiàn yīfu hěn xìnggǎn.She looks very sexy in this outfit.
- 那个舞者非常性感。Nàge wǔzhě fēicháng xìnggǎn.That dancer is very sexy.
- 我觉得他很性感。Wǒ juéde tā hěn xìnggǎn.I think he is hot.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a celebrity on their phones.
- 浩然 Haoran你看那个明星了吗？Nǐ kàn nàge míngxīng le ma?Did you see that celebrity?
- 雨婷 Yuting看了，她真的很性感。Kàn le, tā zhēnde hěn xìnggǎn.I did, she is really hot.
- 浩然 Haoran我也觉得她很有魅力。Wǒ yě juéde tā hěn yǒu mèilì.I also think she is very charming.
- 雨婷 Yuting她的风格很有吸引力。Tā de fēnggé hěn yǒu xīyǐnlì.Her style is very attractive.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 性感, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
