疵 meaning and stroke order
Flaw, fault, defect; disease
How to write 疵, 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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- 11
Meaning of 疵
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- blemish
- flaw
- defect
How 疵 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sickness.
疒 gives the meaning and 此 hints at the sound.
Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.
How to remember 疵
The sickness radical 疒 wraps around 此 (cǐ), which gives the sound. Think of a small sickness mark on something, a spot that makes it imperfect: a flaw.
疵 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It mostly appears in set words like 瑕疵 (xiácī, blemish) and the idiom 吹毛求疵 (chuīmáoqiúcī, to nitpick). Example: 这件衣服有点儿瑕疵。(Zhè jiàn yīfu yǒudiǎnr xiácī.) This piece of clothing has a small flaw.
Common mistake: Learners often read 疵 as cǐ because of its phonetic part 此, but 疵 is first tone, cī. Also do not confuse it with 庇 (bì, shelter), which uses 广 and 比 instead of 疒 and 此.
Common words with 疵
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
疵 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 疵
How many strokes are in 疵?
疵 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 疵 mean?
疵 (cī) means flaw, fault, defect; disease. A common word with it is 瑕疵 (xiácī), meaning "blemish; flaw".
How do you pronounce 疵?
疵 is pronounced cī, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 疵?
The radical of 疵 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 疵 under this radical.
What does 吹毛求疵 mean and when is it used?
It literally means blowing apart fur to look for a defect. It describes someone who is overly picky or nitpicking, and it is usually critical, as in 他总是吹毛求疵 (tā zǒngshì chuīmáoqiúcī, he is always nitpicking).
Is 瑕疵 used only for objects?
No. 瑕疵 can describe flaws in products, but also in plans, arguments, contracts or a person's record. It sounds somewhat formal, and in casual speech people often say 毛病 (máobìng) or 问题 (wèntí) instead.