消 meaning and stroke order
To diminish; to subside; to consume; to reduce; to idle away (the time)
How to write 消, 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.
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Meaning of 消
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to diminish; to subside
- to consume; to reduce
- to idle away (the time)
- (after 不[bu4] or 只[zhi3] or 何[he2] etc) to need; to require; to take
How 消 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 肖 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 消
消 is water 氵 plus 肖 (xiāo), which gives the sound. Picture ice turning into water and slowly melting away until it vanishes.
消 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It mostly appears in words about disappearing, reducing, or using up, such as 消失 (xiāoshī), 取消 (qǔxiāo), and 消费 (xiāofèi). Example: 会议取消了。(Huìyì qǔxiāo le.) The meeting was canceled.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 消 with 销 (xiāo), which has the metal radical 钅 and relates to selling, as in 销售 (xiāoshòu, to sell). Also note that in 消息 the second syllable is usually neutral tone: xiāoxi.
Common words with 消
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 消息 | xiāoxi | (piece of) news; information; message | HSK 3 |
| 消失 | xiāoshī | to disappear; to fade away | HSK 3 |
| 取消 | qǔxiāo | to cancel; to call off; to revoke; to rescind | HSK 3 |
| 消费 | xiāofèi | to consume (goods and services, resources etc) | HSK 3 |
| 消化 | xiāohuà | to digest (food); (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process | HSK 4 |
| 消除 | xiāochú | to eliminate; to remove | HSK 5 |
| 消防 | xiāofáng | firefighting; fire control | HSK 5 |
| 消毒 | xiāodú | to disinfect; to sterilize | HSK 5 |
| 消极 | xiāojí | negative; passive | HSK 5 |
| 消费者 | xiāofèizhě | consumer | HSK 5 |
| 消灭 | xiāomiè | to put an end to; to annihilate | HSK 6 |
| 消耗 | xiāohào | to consume; to use up; to deplete; to expend | HSK 6 |
| 消遣 | xiāoqiǎn | to while the time away; amusement | HSK 7-9 |
| 消沉 | xiāochén | to sink into despondency; (of morale, willpower etc) to diminish; to plummet | HSK 7-9 |
消 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 消
How many strokes are in 消?
消 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 消 mean?
消 (xiāo) means to diminish; to subside; to consume; to reduce; to idle away (the time). A common word with it is 消息 (xiāoxi), meaning "(piece of) news; information; message".
How do you pronounce 消?
消 is pronounced xiāo, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 消?
The radical of 消 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 消 under this radical.
Is 消 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 消 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Why does 消息 mean news if 消 means to vanish?
In the old sense, 消 meant fading and 息 meant growing, so 消息 described how things changed. Over time it came to mean information about events, and today it simply means news or a message.
What does 不消 mean?
After words like 不 or 只, 消 means to need or to take. 不消 means there is no need, and 只消 means it only takes, as in 只消十分钟 (zhǐ xiāo shí fēnzhōng), it only takes ten minutes. This use sounds a bit literary.