<p>You may need words of 2 characters, but I'm sure Chinese can do that. Specifically, what do you want to express? Hot or cold: passion, zeal, enthusiasm, interest, love, desire, hate? Here are some pairs of opposites.</p>

<ul>
<li>热情 —— 冷静</li>
<li>热心 —— 冷淡</li>
<li>热门 —— 冷漠</li>
</ul>

<p>Furthermore, you can write:   </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他冷冷地对我说了 ...<br>
  我热情地微笑着, ...</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-30T12:30:37.500Z
热情 vs 冷漠, 热心 vs 冷淡, 热门 vs 冷清.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T23:12:03.500Z
2017-11-29T11:38:01.597Z
2017-11-29T11:38:01.597Z
Pedroski
<p>Without a context, </p>

<ul>
<li><p>"他很热" means: He feels hot (due to high temperature or catch a fever)</p></li>
<li><p>"他很冷" means: He's feeling cold (due to cold weather or catch a cold)</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-11-30T05:34:04.363Z
2020-02-15T15:07:01.760Z
2020-02-15T15:07:01.760Z
Randy Lam
<p>Definitely, you can use "他很热"to indicate " he is very hot".But, in English, "he is hot" could mean " he is sexy".In Chinese"他很热"do not have mean of "he is sexy". </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-30T15:38:53.867Z
Hi 田小东, thank you for writing a reply. Normally answers on this website are meant to provide something valuable to all readers. While your answer to the OP's question isn't wrong, it doesn't provide much insight either. Please see Pedroski's post to get an idea of what makes a reply useful.
blackgreen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-01T03:32:42.570Z
where can I see pedroski's post? By the way my answer is valuable to all readers.
田小东
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-30T10:48:36.610Z
2017-11-30T10:48:36.610Z
田小东
<p>In my experience, I heard of usage like (他)手很热/(他)手很冷, which are used in PC games to describe players in a good/bad state. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-29T02:48:30.363Z
2017-11-30T09:38:56.350Z
2017-11-30T09:38:56.350Z
dan
<p>&quot;热&quot; and &quot;冷&quot; are used to describe temperature.</p>
<p>Both &quot;热情&quot; and &quot;热心&quot; mean enthusiastic, but the former can be used to describe one's quality; we often use the latter when expressing one's attitude to specific people or affairs. For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>这位服务员待客十分热情。</p>
<p>他对集体活动一点也不热心。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>&quot;热门&quot; means popular.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-04T12:32:05.723Z
2017-12-04T12:32:05.723Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Alexander Khan
<p>Short answer: No.</p>

<p>From my experience, we can say '他很冷' to mean that he is the person who doesn't care. But we do not say ‘他很热’. Instead, we say ‘他很热情’. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T22:53:00.227Z
2017-11-28T23:03:02.750Z
2017-11-28T23:03:02.750Z
Lixun Zhang
<p>In many Indo-European languages metaphors of temperature are used to describe people. Is it the same in Chinese,  can we say '他很热' and not mean that they have a high temperature?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T22:50:05.903Z
see dictionaries regarding 热：热情、热爱,  冷：冷酷、冷漠、 冷淡 (note Chinese has become a language with  preponderance of disyllabic words)
user6065
<usage><word><adjectives>
Can one use 热 and 冷 to describe people?
# Can one use 热 and 冷 to describe people?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-28)

In many Indo-European languages metaphors of temperature are used to describe people. Is it the same in Chinese, can we say '他很热' and not mean that they have a high temperature?

**Tags:** usage, word, adjectives

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: see dictionaries regarding 热：热情、热爱,  冷：冷酷、冷漠、 冷淡 (note Chinese has become a language with  preponderance of disyllabic words)  

---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-28. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

You may need words of 2 characters, but I'm sure Chinese can do that. Specifically, what do you want to express? Hot or cold: passion, zeal, enthusiasm, interest, love, desire, hate? Here are some pairs of opposites.

* 热情 —— 冷静
* 热心 —— 冷淡
* 热门 —— 冷漠

Furthermore, you can write:

> 他冷冷地对我说了 ...  
> 我热情地微笑着, ...

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 热情 vs 冷漠, 热心 vs 冷淡, 热门 vs 冷清.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-11-30. Score: 1

Without a context,

* "他很热" means: He feels hot (due to high temperature or catch a fever)
* "他很冷" means: He's feeling cold (due to cold weather or catch a cold)


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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-11-30. Score: 0

Definitely, you can use "他很热"to indicate " he is very hot".But, in English, "he is hot" could mean " he is sexy".In Chinese"他很热"do not have mean of "he is sexy".

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Hi 田小东, thank you for writing a reply. Normally answers on this website are meant to provide something valuable to all readers. While your answer to the OP's question isn't wrong, it doesn't provide much insight either. Please see username_2's post to get an idea of what makes a reply useful.  
> **username_5**: where can I see username_2's post? By the way my answer is valuable to all readers.  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2017-11-29. Score: 0

In my experience, I heard of usage like (他)手很热/(他)手很冷, which are used in PC games to describe players in a good/bad state.


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### Answer by username_8 on 2017-12-04. Score: 0

"热" and "冷" are used to describe temperature.

Both "热情" and "热心" mean enthusiastic, but the former can be used to describe one's quality; we often use the latter when expressing one's attitude to specific people or affairs. For example:

> 这位服务员待客十分热情。
>
> 他对集体活动一点也不热心。

"热门" means popular.


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### Answer by username_9 on 2017-11-28. Score: 0

Short answer: No.

From my experience, we can say '他很冷' to mean that he is the person who doesn't care. But we do not say ‘他很热’. Instead, we say ‘他很热情’.


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