哲 meaning and stroke order
Wise, sagacious; wise man; philosopher
How to write 哲, stroke by stroke
10 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
- 9
- 10
Meaning of 哲
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- wise
- a sage
How 哲 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 折 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 哲
哲 is 折 (zhé) on top of 口 (mouth). 折 gives the sound, and 口 hints at speech, so picture a wise person whose mouth speaks carefully weighed words.
哲 rarely appears alone in modern Chinese. It mostly shows up in words like 哲学 (zhéxué, philosophy) and 哲学家 (zhéxuéjiā, philosopher). Example: 他在大学学哲学。(Tā zài dàxué xué zhéxué.) He studies philosophy at university.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 哲 with 折 (zhé, to break or fold) because they share the same sound and top part. Remember that 哲 has 口 underneath, and that piece is what separates wisdom from breaking.
Common words with 哲
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
哲 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 哲
How many strokes are in 哲?
哲 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 哲 mean?
哲 (zhé) means wise, sagacious; wise man; philosopher. A common word with it is 哲学 (zhéxué), meaning "philosophy".
How do you pronounce 哲?
哲 is pronounced zhé, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 哲?
The radical of 哲 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 哲 under this radical.
Is 哲 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 哲 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I use 哲 by itself to say someone is wise?
Not usually. In everyday speech, people say 聪明 (cōngming) or 有智慧 (yǒu zhìhuì) for wise. 哲 alone sounds literary and is found mainly in compounds and formal writing.
Is 哲 used in Chinese names?
Yes, 哲 is a fairly common character in given names because it suggests wisdom. You may see names like 子哲 or 哲宇.