赤 meaning and stroke order
Red, scarlet; blushing; bare, naked
How to write 赤, stroke by stroke
7 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
- 7
Meaning of 赤
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- red
- scarlet
- bare
- naked
How 赤 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A person 土 whose cheeks are burning 火.
How to remember 赤
The etymology hint reads the top 土 as a person and the bottom 火 (huǒ, fire) as burning cheeks. Picture someone whose face is on fire with embarrassment, glowing bright red.
赤 (chì) is rarely used alone in modern speech. It appears in set words for red, like 赤字 (chìzì, deficit), and in words for bare, like 赤脚 (chìjiǎo, barefoot). Example: 他气得面红耳赤。(Tā qì de miànhóng-ěrchì.) He was so angry his face turned red.
Common mistake: Learners often say 赤 when they just mean red. In everyday speech use 红 (hóng). 赤 sounds literary or fixed, so 赤色的苹果 sounds odd where 红苹果 is natural. Also keep the fourth tone chì, not chī.
Common words with 赤
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 赤字 | chìzì | (financial) deficit; red letter | HSK 7-9 |
| 面红耳赤 | miànhóng-ěrchì | flushed with anger (or excitement) | HSK 7-9 |
| 赤裸 | chìluǒ | naked; bare | |
| 赤裸裸 | chìluǒluǒ | bare; naked | |
| 赤道 | chìdào | equator (of the earth or a celestial body); celestial equator | |
| 赤手空拳 | chìshǒukōngquán | (idiom) with one's bare hands (unarmed – also figuratively: without assistance) | |
| 赤脚 | chìjiǎo | barefoot |
赤 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 赤
Learning 赤 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 赤
How many strokes are in 赤?
赤 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 赤 mean?
赤 (chì) means red, scarlet; blushing; bare, naked. A common word with it is 赤字 (chìzì), meaning "(financial) deficit; red letter".
How do you pronounce 赤?
赤 is pronounced chì, in the fourth tone (falling).
Is 赤 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 赤 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 赤字 mean a financial deficit?
Accountants traditionally wrote losses in red ink, so 赤字 (chìzì, red characters) came to mean a deficit. The opposite, a surplus, is 盈余 (yíngyú) or 黑字 (hēizì).
How is 赤 connected to the meaning naked or bare?
In words like 赤裸 (chìluǒ) and 赤手空拳 (chìshǒukōngquán), 赤 means exposed, with nothing covering it. The reduplicated 赤裸裸 (chìluǒluǒ) is often used figuratively, as in 赤裸裸的谎言 (a blatant lie).