飒 (sà) · cool and striking; sharp; dashing (esp. of women)

Meanings

1 cool and striking; sharp; dashing (esp. of women)
2 (classical) sound of rustling wind; valiant

Characters

飒

sà

dashing / rustling wind

Examples

HSK 5

这届女运动员一个比一个飒。

Zhè jiè nǚ yùndòngyuán yí ge bǐ yí ge sà.

The female athletes this year are each one cooler than the last.

HSK 7-9

她穿制服的样子真飒!

Tā chuān zhìfú de yàngzi zhēn sà!

She looks so badass in uniform!

HSK 7-9

短发加皮衣,飒得不像话。

Duǎnfà jiā píyī, sà de búxiànghuà.

Short hair plus a leather jacket, impossibly cool.

Tips

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Social-media slang, very common after 2020. Classical 飒 meant 'sound of wind / valiant' (as in 英姿飒爽); the modern usage compliments a woman's confident, sharp, no-nonsense energy. Named a 2020 Top 10 buzzword by 《咬文嚼字》.

usage

Applied mostly to women (short hair, suits, uniforms, athletic moves). Male equivalent is closer to 帅 (shuài). Pairs well with 英姿飒爽 'in valiant and graceful spirit.'

Components

radical

风 fēng

wind

Right wind radical - simplified from 風, originally a 凡 sail-shape over an insect-sail to depict gusts. Kangxi #182. Indexes 飒 in the weather family with 飘 to drift, 飙 storm wind, 飕 whistling. 飒 names the sound and feel of a brisk wind, and recently the slang sense 'dashing, cool' - fashionably wind-swept style.

phonetic

立 lì

to stand; upright

Left side 立 supplies the sound - lì shifted to sà through Old-Chinese sound change. 立 itself pictures a person standing on the ground line, head and arms above a horizontal earth bar. The 'standing upright' image quietly reinforces 飒: a wind sweeps past, but figures left standing in it look proud and bracing.