悽 meaning and stroke order
Sorrowful, grieving; melancholy
How to write 悽, 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.
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Meaning of 悽
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 淒|凄[qi1]
- sad
- mournful
How 悽 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
忄 gives the meaning and 妻 hints at the sound.
Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.
How to remember 悽
The heart radical 忄 on the left shows this is a feeling, and 妻 (qī) on the right gives the sound. Picture a heart aching for a wife far away, and you have a sorrowful, grieving mood.
悽 is a variant of 凄 (qī), and modern simplified Chinese almost always uses 凄 instead. You will mostly see 悽 in traditional texts, older writing, or literary phrases about sadness. Example: 凄惨的哭声 (qīcǎn de kūshēng) a mournful sound of crying.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes swap the left side and write 淒 or 凄 without knowing they are related variants. In simplified Chinese writing, use 凄 in words like 凄惨 (qīcǎn) rather than 悽, or it may look old-fashioned or odd.
Common words with 悽
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 悽慘 | qīcǎn | plaintive; mournful |
Questions about 悽
How many strokes are in 悽?
悽 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 悽 mean?
悽 (qī) means sorrowful, grieving; melancholy. A common word with it is 凄惨 (qīcǎn), meaning "plaintive; mournful".
How do you pronounce 悽?
悽 is pronounced qī, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 悽?
The radical of 悽 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 悽 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 悽?
悽 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 凄, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 悽, 淒 and 凄?
They share the sound qī and overlap in meaning, and 悽 is listed as a variant of 淒 and 凄. 凄 is the standard simplified form used today for sad or bleak feelings. 悽 with the heart radical leans toward emotional sorrow.
Is 悽 pronounced the same as 妻 (wife)?
Yes, both are read qī in the first tone. 妻 is the sound component here, which is why the pronunciation matches, but 悽 itself has nothing to do with marriage in meaning.