Chinese words starting with “lao”
30 words in our HSK vocabulary start with the syllable lao. They are sorted by how common they are, so the ones you are most likely to meet come first. The 10 most useful of them have their own page — they are listed first below.
Initial l · final ao · hear the four tones and see example characters →
- 1st tone 1
- 2nd tone 11
- 3rd tone 17
- 4th tone 1
Word counts by tone are counted on the first syllable of each word.
Common words with this syllable
- 老师lǎo shīHSK 1
teacher
- 老板lǎo bǎnHSK 3
boss; business proprietor
- 老婆lǎo póHSK 4
(coll.) wife
- 老人lǎo rénHSK 1
old man or woman; the elderly; one's aged parents or grandparents
- 老是lǎo shiHSK 2
always
- 老太太lǎo tài taiHSK 3
elderly lady (respectful); esteemed mother
- 老朋友lǎo péng youHSK 2
old friend; (slang) period; menstruation
- 老百姓lǎo bǎi xìngHSK 3
ordinary people; the "person in the street"
- 老年lǎo niánHSK 2
elderly; old age; autumn of one's years
- 老头儿lǎo tóu rHSK 3
see 老头子
All 30 words
| # | Word | Pinyin | POS | Meaning | Study list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 老 | lǎo | a,d,g | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerable (person); experienced; of long standing; always; all the time; of the past; very; outdated; (of meat etc) tough | |
| 2 | 老公 | lǎo gong | n | (coll.) eunuch; see also 公 | |
| 3 | 老大 | lǎo dà | n | old age; very; eldest child in a family; leader of a group; boss; captain of a boat; leader of a criminal gang | |
| 4 | 老鼠 | lǎo shǔ | n | rat; mouse | |
| 5 | 劳动 | láo dòng | vn,v | work; toil; physical labor | |
| 6 | 老实 | lǎo shi | ad,a | honest; sincere; well-behaved; naive; gullible | |
| 7 | 老虎 | lǎo hǔ | n | tiger | |
| 8 | 捞 | lāo | v | to fish up; to dredge up | |
| 9 | 牢 | láo | a,g | firm; sturdy; fold (for animals); sacrifice; prison | |
| 10 | 老家 | lǎo jiā | n | native place; place of origin; home state or region | |
| 11 | 老人家 | lǎo rén jiā | n | polite term for old woman or man | |
| 12 | 牢牢 | láo láo | d | firmly; safely | |
| 13 | 唠叨 | láo dao | v,vn | to prattle; to chatter away; to nag; garrulous; nagging | |
| 14 | 牢固 | láo gù | a | firm; secure | |
| 15 | 姥姥 | lǎo lao | n | (coll.) mother's mother; maternal grandmother | |
| 16 | 老远 | lǎo yuǎn | d | very far away | |
| 17 | 牢记 | láo jì | v | to keep in mind; to remember | |
| 18 | 劳动力 | láo dòng lì | n | labor force; manpower | |
| 19 | 老化 | lǎo huà | v,vn | (of a person, population or material) to age; (of knowledge) to become outdated | |
| 20 | 老乡 | lǎo xiāng | n | fellow townsman; fellow villager; sb from the same hometown | |
| 21 | 劳累 | láo lèi | a,an,ad | tired; exhausted; worn out; to toil | |
| 22 | 牢骚 | láo sāo | n | discontent; complaint; to complain | |
| 23 | 劳务 | láo wù | n | service (work done for money); services (as in "goods and services") | |
| 24 | 老实说 | lǎo shí shuō | honestly speaking; to be frank, ... | ||
| 25 | 老汉 | lǎo hàn | n | old man; I (an old man referring to himself) | |
| 26 | 姥爷 | lǎo ye | n | maternal grandfather (dialectal) | |
| 27 | 老字号 | lǎo zì hào | n | shop, firm, or brand of merchandise with a long-established reputation | |
| 28 | 劳驾 | láo jià | v | excuse me | |
| 29 | 涝 | lào | v | flooded | |
| 30 | 老伴儿 | lǎo bàn r | n | erhua variant of 老伴; (coll.) (of an old couple) husband or wife |
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