狭 meaning and stroke order
Narrow, limited; narrow-minded
How to write 狭, stroke by stroke
9 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
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Meaning of 狭
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- narrow
- narrow-minded
- old variant of 狹|狭[xia2]
How 狭 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Dog.
犭 gives the meaning and 夹 hints at the sound.
Radical: 犭 (dog), shared by 88 characters on this site.
How to remember 狭
狭 is a pictophonetic character: 犭 (the dog radical) gives the meaning category and 夹 (jiā, to squeeze between) gives the sound. Picture a dog squeezed between two walls in a narrow alley.
狭 is rarely used alone in speech. It mostly appears in words like 狭窄 (xiázhǎi), 狭小 (xiáxiǎo) and 狭隘 (xiá'ài). Example: 这条路很狭窄。(Zhè tiáo lù hěn xiázhǎi.) This road is very narrow.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 狭 (xiá) with 侠 (xiá, hero) and 峡 (xiá, gorge), which share the same sound part 夹 but have different radicals. Also, the phonetic 夹 is read jiā, but 狭 is read xiá with a second tone.
Common words with 狭
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
狭 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 狭
How many strokes are in 狭?
狭 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 狭 mean?
狭 (xiá) means narrow, limited; narrow-minded. A common word with it is 狭窄 (xiázhǎi), meaning "narrow".
How do you pronounce 狭?
狭 is pronounced xiá, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 狭?
The radical of 狭 is 犭, which carries the idea of "dog". Dictionaries list 狭 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 狭?
The traditional form of 狭 is 狹 and 陿. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 狭 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 狭 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 狭 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 狭窄 and 狭隘?
狭窄 (xiázhǎi) is the everyday word for physically narrow spaces like roads or rooms. 狭隘 (xiá'ài) can describe narrow paths too, but it is more often used figuratively for narrow views or a narrow mind, as in 心胸狭隘 (xīnxiōng xiá'ài).
How do I say narrow-minded using 狭?
Common phrases are 心胸狭隘 (xīnxiōng xiá'ài) and 心胸狭窄 (xīnxiōng xiázhǎi), both meaning narrow-minded or petty. The opposite idea is 心胸宽广 (xīnxiōng kuānguǎng), broad-minded.