稚 meaning and stroke order
Young, immature; childhood
How to write 稚, stroke by stroke
13 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 稚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- infantile
- young
- old variant of 稚[zhi4]
- variant of 稚[zhi4]
How 稚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Grain.
禾 gives the meaning and 隹 hints at the sound.
Radical: 禾 (cereal), shared by 66 characters on this site.
How to remember 稚
稚 combines 禾 (grain) with 隹 (a short-tailed bird), which gives the sound. Picture a tiny bird pecking at young grain sprouts in a field: everything here is small and newly grown.
稚 rarely appears alone in speech. It shows up mostly in words like 幼稚 (yòuzhì), which can mean young but very often means childish or naive. Example: 你别这么幼稚。(Nǐ bié zhème yòuzhì.) Don't be so childish.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 稚 with 雅 (yǎ, elegant), since both have 隹 on the right. 稚 has 禾 on the left, while 雅 has 牙. Also remember the fourth tone: zhì, not zhī.
Common words with 稚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
稚 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 稚
How many strokes are in 稚?
稚 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 稚 mean?
稚 (zhì) means young, immature; childhood. A common word with it is 幼稚 (yòuzhì), meaning "young; childish".
How do you pronounce 稚?
稚 is pronounced zhì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 稚?
The radical of 稚 is 禾, which carries the idea of "cereal". Dictionaries list 稚 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 稚?
The traditional form of 稚 is 稺 and 穉. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 稚 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 稚 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 稚 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 幼稚 an insult in Chinese?
When used about an adult, 幼稚 is a criticism meaning immature or naive. When describing actual young children or early stages of something, it is neutral.
Why is kindergarten 幼稚园 in Taiwan but 幼儿园 in mainland China?
Both words mean kindergarten. 幼稚园 is the standard term in Taiwan, while mainland China uses 幼儿园 (yòu'éryuán), partly because 幼稚 has picked up the sense of childish.