色 meaning and stroke order
Color; look; appearance
How to write 色, stroke by stroke
6 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
Meaning of 色
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- color
- look
- appearance
- sex
- (coll.) color
- used in 色子[shai3 zi5]
How 色 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. What a person ⺈ desires 巴.
How to remember 色
The top part ⺈ is a person, and the bottom 巴 (bā) stands for what they desire. What catches a person's eye and stirs desire is color and beauty, so 色 (sè) means color, looks, and also sex.
色 is most often the second half of color words, as in 红色 (hóngsè, red) and 蓝色 (lánsè, blue). It also appears in words about appearance and views, like 景色 (jǐngsè, scenery). Example: 你喜欢什么颜色？ (Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yánsè?) What color do you like?
Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom as 巳 or 己 instead of 巴. Also watch 黄色 (huángsè): besides yellow it can mean pornographic, so saying 黄色电影 means an adult film, not a yellow movie.
Common words with 色
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 颜色 | yánsè | color; countenance | HSK 2 |
| 红色 | hóngsè | red (color); revolutionary | HSK 2 |
| 黑色 | hēisè | black | HSK 2 |
| 蓝色 | lánsè | blue (color) | HSK 2 |
| 白色 | báisè | white; fig. reactionary | HSK 2 |
| 绿色 | lǜsè | green | HSK 2 |
| 黄色 | huángsè | yellow; vulgar; lewd; pornographic | HSK 2 |
| 景色 | jǐngsè | scenery; landscape; view | HSK 3 |
| 特色 | tèsè | a characteristic; a distinctive feature or quality | HSK 3 |
| 彩色 | cǎisè | color; multicolored | HSK 3 |
| 角色 | juésè | role; part (in a play or movie etc); also pr. [jiao3se4] | HSK 4 |
| 出色 | chūsè | remarkable; outstanding | HSK 4 |
| 色彩 | sècǎi | tint; coloring; coloration; (fig.) flavor; character | HSK 4 |
| 五颜六色 | wǔyán-liùsè | multicolored; every color under the sun | HSK 4 |
色 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 色
Learning 色 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 色
How many strokes are in 色?
色 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 色 mean?
色 (sè) means color; look; appearance. A common word with it is 颜色 (yánsè), meaning "color; countenance".
How do you pronounce 色?
色 is pronounced sè, in the fourth tone (falling).
Is 色 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 色 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
When is 色 pronounced shǎi instead of sè?
Shǎi is a colloquial reading for color in spoken Chinese, and it is used in 色子 (shǎizi), meaning dice. In standard words like 颜色 and 红色, use sè.
Can I just say 红 instead of 红色?
Yes, before a noun you can often drop 色, as in 红衣服 (hóng yīfu, red clothes). On its own as a noun, such as when naming a color, 红色 sounds more natural.