TraceHanzi

崔 meaning and stroke order

cuī

High, lofty, towering; surname

11 strokesRadical 山
Strokes11
Pinyincuī
ToneTone 1
Frequency#2,158
Printable worksheet

How to write 崔, stroke by stroke

11 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. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
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  11. 11

Meaning of 崔

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

cuīfirst tone (high and level)
  1. (literary) (of mountains) lofty

How 崔 is built

Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A bird 隹 faced with a mountain 山.

shānmountain+zhuīshort-tailed bird

Radical: 山 (mountain), shared by 111 characters on this site.

How to remember 崔

A bird 隹 (zhuī) sits below a mountain 山 (shān) and looks up at how tall it is. That towering mountain gives 崔 its meaning of high and lofty.

Today 崔 (cuī) is used mostly as a surname, and it is a common one in China and Korea. The meaning "lofty" appears mainly in literary Chinese. Example: 我的老师姓崔。(Wǒ de lǎoshī xìng Cuī.) My teacher's surname is Cui.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 崔 (cuī) with 催 (cuī, to urge), which adds the person radical 亻 on the left. Both have the same sound, so check the shape when you write the surname.

崔 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

崔cuī西xī弄nòng丢diū了le她tā的de眼yǎn镜jìng。
Tracy lost her glasses.
崔cuī西xī在zài那nà之zhī前qián从cóng来lái没méi有yǒu使shǐ用yòng过guò筷kuài子zi。
Tracy had never used chopsticks before then.

Characters that contain 崔

Learning 崔 makes these easier to recognize and write.

摧cuīto destroy催cuīto urge璀cuǐbrillance

Questions about 崔

How many strokes are in 崔?

崔 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 崔 mean?

崔 (cuī) means high, lofty, towering; surname.

How do you pronounce 崔?

崔 is pronounced cuī, in the first tone (high and level).

What is the radical of 崔?

The radical of 崔 is 山, which carries the idea of "mountain". Dictionaries list 崔 under this radical.

Is 崔 the same as the Korean surname Choi?

Yes. The Korean surname usually romanized as Choi or Choe is written with 崔 in Chinese characters. In Mandarin it is read Cuī.

What words use 崔 with its lofty meaning?

The best known is 崔嵬 (cuīwéi), a literary word for a towering mountain or something very high. You will mostly see it in classical poetry and formal writing.