祟 meaning and stroke order
Evil spirit; evil influence
How to write 祟, 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 祟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- evil spirit
How 祟 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Spirit.
示 gives the meaning.
Radical: 示 (altar), shared by 8 characters on this site.
How to remember 祟
祟 is 出 (chū, to come out) sitting on top of 示, the spirit radical. Picture a spirit coming out from the altar to cause trouble, and you have an evil spirit or evil influence.
祟 (suì) almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. You will meet it in 鬼鬼祟祟 (guǐguǐsuìsuì, sneaky) and 作祟 (zuòsuì, to haunt, or to cause trouble behind the scenes). Example: 他鬼鬼祟祟地走进房间。(Tā guǐguǐsuìsuì de zǒu jìn fángjiān.) He sneaked into the room.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 祟 (suì) with 崇 (chóng, to revere), which has 山 on top instead of 出. Remember that the ghostly 祟 has something coming out (出), while the lofty 崇 has a mountain (山).
Common words with 祟
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
祟 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 祟
How many strokes are in 祟?
祟 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 祟 mean?
祟 (suì) means evil spirit; evil influence. A common word with it is 鬼鬼祟祟 (guǐguǐsuìsuì), meaning "(idiom) sneaky; secretive; furtive".
How do you pronounce 祟?
祟 is pronounced suì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 祟?
The radical of 祟 is 示, which carries the idea of "altar". Dictionaries list 祟 under this radical.
Can 作祟 be used for things that are not ghosts?
Yes. In everyday speech 作祟 often means an abstract force is causing trouble. For example, 是自卑心理在作祟 (shì zìbēi xīnlǐ zài zuòsuì) means it is insecurity that is causing the problem.
Is 鬼鬼祟祟 negative?
Yes, it describes someone acting in a sneaky or suspicious way. It is usually used as an adverb with 地, as in 鬼鬼祟祟地看 (guǐguǐsuìsuì de kàn), to look around furtively.