怯 meaning and stroke order
Afraid, lacking in courage
How to write 怯, 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.
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Meaning of 怯
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- timid
- cowardly
- rustic
- Taiwan pr. [que4]
How 怯 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
忄 gives the meaning and 去 hints at the sound.
Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.
How to remember 怯
The heart radical 忄 sits next to 去 (qù, to go), which gives the sound. Picture a heart that wants to go away and run from danger, and you have 怯 (qiè), feeling timid.
怯 is rarely used alone in everyday speech. It mostly appears in words like 胆怯 (dǎnqiè) and 怯场 (qièchǎng). Example: 他第一次上台有点怯场。(Tā dì yī cì shàngtái yǒudiǎn qièchǎng.) He had a bit of stage fright his first time on stage.
Common mistake: Learners often read 怯 as qù because of the phonetic 去, but it is qiè, fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 法 (fǎ), which has the water radical 氵 instead of the heart radical 忄.
Common words with 怯
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 胆怯 | dǎnqiè | timidity; timid | HSK 7-9 |
| 怯懦 | qiènuò | timid; cowardly; chicken-hearted | |
| 怯场 | qièchǎng | to have stage fright |
怯 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 怯
How many strokes are in 怯?
怯 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 怯 mean?
怯 (qiè) means afraid, lacking in courage. A common word with it is 胆怯 (dǎnqiè), meaning "timidity; timid".
How do you pronounce 怯?
怯 is pronounced qiè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 怯?
The radical of 怯 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 怯 under this radical.
Is 怯 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 怯 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 怯 and 怕?
怕 (pà) is the everyday word for being afraid of something, as in 我怕狗 (wǒ pà gǒu). 怯 describes a timid, lacking-in-courage state and is more literary, usually found inside compound words.
Why does the dictionary say Taiwan pronunciation is que4?
In Taiwan the standard reading of 怯 is què rather than qiè. Both refer to the same character and meaning, so just follow the standard of the region you are learning for.