刷新

• Pinyin: shuā xīn
• Hanzi breakdown: 刷 = 刀 + 帀 (blade + a brushing motion — to brush; to swipe); 新 = 亲 + 斤 (close/fresh + axe — new; to renew; to refresh)

Meaning

To refresh; to reload (a webpage or data); to break a record; to update one's understanding.

In computing: to reload or refresh a page or data feed. In sports and performance: to break a record (刷新纪录). Figuratively: 刷新认知 (to update one's perception or understanding) is widely used in Chinese media.

Examples

1. 这位二十三岁的游泳运动员在世锦赛上以0.07秒优势刷新尘封十二年的世界纪录，全场立刻沸腾。 At the world championships, this 23-year-old swimmer broke a 12-year-old world record by 0.07 seconds, and the crowd erupted at once.
2. 生成式人工智能的商业化刷新了人们对计算机创造力边界的认知，也在版权、替代劳动和信息真实性上挑战法律。 The commercialisation of generative AI has refreshed people's view of the limits of computer creativity and also challenged the law on copyright, labour replacement, and information authenticity.
3. 前端开发中，同域静态资源的激进缓存有时会让用户刷新后仍加载旧版本，正确配置缓存控制头是关键。 In frontend development, aggressive caching of same-origin static resources can sometimes make users load an old version even after a refresh, so configuring cache-control headers correctly is key.

Usage Guide

Context: computing, sports, media, technology, cognition

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 这支平均年龄不足二十五岁的创业团队，两年内接连刷新融资纪录和用户增长速度，令许多资深企业家重新思考互联网时代的成长规律。(This startup team, with an average age under twenty-five, broke financing records and user growth speed in just two years, forcing many veteran entrepreneurs to rethink the growth rules of the internet era.)
• 浏览器普通刷新会优先用本地缓存，强制刷新则跳过缓存直接请求最新资源；排查前端更新失效时，这点很关键。(A normal browser refresh prefers the local cache, while a hard refresh skips the cache and requests the latest resources directly; this is crucial when troubleshooting failed frontend updates.)

Don't Say

• 刷新 to mean simply cleaning or repainting a surface in modern usage — while 刷 literally means to brush or scrub, 刷新 as a compound has evolved to mean to refresh in digital contexts and to break a record; for painting or recoating a surface use 粉刷 (to whitewash/repaint) or 涂刷 (to apply paint/coating) instead

Origin & History

刷 (to brush; to swipe — 刀 blade + 帀 a brushing motion) + 新 (new; to renew — 亲 close/fresh + 斤 axe)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal