彻 meaning and stroke order
Penetrating, pervasive; to penetrate, to pass through
How to write 彻, stroke by stroke
7 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
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- 7
Meaning of 彻
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- thorough
- penetrating
- to pervade
- to pass through
How 彻 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Cut.
切 gives the meaning and 彳 hints at the sound.
Radical: 彳 (to step with the left foot), shared by 42 characters on this site.
How to remember 彻
彻 is built from 彳 (a step, walking) next to 切 (qiē, to cut). Picture someone walking straight through and cutting all the way, so nothing is left untouched: that is going through thoroughly.
彻 rarely appears alone. It shows up in words meaning thorough or all the way through, like 彻底 (chèdǐ), 透彻 (tòuchè), 贯彻 (guànchè) and 彻夜 (chèyè). Example: 我把房间彻底打扫了一遍。(Wǒ bǎ fángjiān chèdǐ dǎsǎo le yí biàn.) I cleaned the room thoroughly.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 亻 (single person) instead of 彳 (double person). Some also confuse 彻 with 撤 (chè, to withdraw), which sounds the same but has the hand radical 扌.
Common words with 彻
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
彻 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 彻
How many strokes are in 彻?
彻 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 彻 mean?
彻 (chè) means penetrating, pervasive; to penetrate, to pass through. A common word with it is 彻底 (chèdǐ), meaning "thorough; thoroughly".
How do you pronounce 彻?
彻 is pronounced chè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 彻?
The radical of 彻 is 彳, which carries the idea of "to step with the left foot". Dictionaries list 彻 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 彻?
The traditional form of 彻 is 徹. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 彻 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 彻 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 彻 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 彻底 and 透彻?
彻底 (chèdǐ) means completely or thoroughly and works with actions, as in 彻底解决 (solve completely). 透彻 (tòuchè) is about understanding or analysis being deep and clear, as in 理解得很透彻 (understand it thoroughly).
How is 贯彻 used?
贯彻 (guànchè) means to carry out or implement a policy, spirit or principle all the way through. It is formal and common in news and official language, for example 贯彻政策 (guànchè zhèngcè), to implement a policy.