白
white
bái
What does 白 mean?
白 (bái) primarily means 'white' as a color — 白色 (báisè, 'the color white'), 白衣服 ('white clothes'), 白头发 ('white hair'). Beyond color, 白 carries two important extended meanings English speakers should know. First, it means 'plain / blank / empty': 白纸 is a 'blank sheet of paper,' 白开水 is 'plain boiled water' (no tea, no flavoring), 空白 means 'a blank space.'
Second, used as an adverb before a verb, 白 means 'in vain / for nothing': 白等了 ('waited for nothing'), 白说了 ('said it for nothing — wasted my breath'). Culturally, white in China has historically been the color of mourning and funerals — the opposite of red (festive, lucky) — though Western-style weddings have made white wedding dresses common in modern cities. The character also appears as a surname (Lǐ Bái, the Tang poet, is 李白).
Character breakdown
white; plain; in vain
Memory hook: Picture a single ray of sunlight on a blank page — that's 白: white, bright, and empty.
Example sentences
我喜欢白色。
Wǒ xǐhuan báisè.
I like the color white.
neutral
她有一件白衣服。
Tā yǒu yí jiàn bái yīfu.
She has a white piece of clothing.
neutral
请给我一杯白开水。
Qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi báikāishuǐ.
Please give me a glass of plain water.
spoken, polite
我今天白等了两个小时。
Wǒ jīntiān bái děng le liǎng gè xiǎoshí.
I waited two hours for nothing today.
spoken
他的头发都白了。
Tā de tóufa dōu bái le.
His hair has all turned white.
neutral
Common phrases with 白
Synonyms
Don't confuse 白 with
百 means 'hundred' and is third tone. 白 means 'white' and is second tone. The characters look almost identical — 百 has a horizontal stroke at the top — but they are completely unrelated in meaning.
自 means 'self' (自己 'oneself'). It looks like 白 but with an extra short stroke at the top. Beginners often misread one for the other.
FAQ
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