佳 meaning and stroke order
Good, auspicious; beautiful; delightful
How to write 佳, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 佳
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- beautiful
- fine
- good
How 佳 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 圭 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 佳
佳 combines the person radical 亻 with 圭 (guī), which gives the sound. Picture a person 亻 standing next to a fine jade tablet 圭, and that person looks good and fine.
佳 is a formal, written-style word for "good" or "fine" and mostly appears in set words like 最佳 (zuìjiā), 佳节 (jiājié), and 不佳 (bùjiā). In everyday speech people say 好 (hǎo) instead. Example: 他的身体状况不佳。(Tā de shēntǐ zhuàngkuàng bù jiā.) His health is not good.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 佳 with the right side as 土 plus 土 stacked wrong, or confuse it with 住 (zhù, to live), which has 主 on the right. Also, 佳 is not used alone as a casual adjective, so say 这个很好 rather than 这个很佳.
Common words with 佳
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
佳 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 佳
How many strokes are in 佳?
佳 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 佳 mean?
佳 (jiā) means good, auspicious; beautiful; delightful. A common word with it is 最佳 (zuìjiā), meaning "optimum; optimal".
How do you pronounce 佳?
佳 is pronounced jiā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 佳?
The radical of 佳 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 佳 under this radical.
Is 佳 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 佳 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 最佳 mean and where do I see it?
最佳 (zuìjiā) means "best" or "optimal." You often see it in award names like 最佳男主角 (best actor) and in phrases like 最佳时间 (the best time).
Why is 佳节 used for holidays?
佳节 (jiājié) literally means "fine festival" and is a polite, literary way to say holiday. It appears in greetings such as 佳节愉快 (Happy holidays) and in the classic line 每逢佳节倍思亲 (on every festival I miss my family even more).