賊 meaning and stroke order
Thief, traitor; cunning, sly
How to write 賊, 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 賊
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- thief; robber
- (bound form) traitor; subversive
- (bound form) evil; wicked
- sly; shifty; devious
- (literary) to harm; to injure
- (coll.) extremely; insanely; damn (common in NE China and Taiwan)
How 賊 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Weapons.
戎 gives the meaning and 貝 hints at the sound.
Radical: 貝 (sea shell), shared by 62 characters on this site.
How to remember 賊
賊 puts 貝 (bèi, shell money) next to 戎 (róng, weapons). Picture someone holding a weapon beside your money: that is a thief.
賊 (simplified 贼) usually appears in compounds for thieves and traitors, like 盗贼 (dàozéi) and 卖国贼 (màiguózéi). In casual speech, especially in Northeast China and Taiwan, it also works as an intensifier meaning "really" or "super". Example: 这个菜贼好吃。(Zhège cài zéi hǎochī.) This dish is insanely good.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 戈 or 我 instead of 戎, which has an extra cross stroke inside. Also keep the rising second tone, zéi, not zěi.
Common words with 賊
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 賊
How many strokes are in 賊?
賊 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 賊 mean?
賊 (zéi) means thief, traitor; cunning, sly. A common word with it is 盗贼 (dàozéi), meaning "robber".
How do you pronounce 賊?
賊 is pronounced zéi, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 賊?
The radical of 賊 is 貝, which carries the idea of "sea shell". Dictionaries list 賊 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 賊?
賊 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 贼, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 乌贼 (wūzéi) mean cuttlefish if 贼 means thief?
In this word 贼 does not mean a thief at all. 乌贼 is simply the fixed name for the cuttlefish, so learn it as a whole word.
Is it rude to use 贼 to mean "very"?
It is not rude, but it is informal and regional. It sounds natural among friends, but in writing or formal settings use 非常 (fēicháng) or 特别 (tèbié) instead.