隙 meaning and stroke order
Crack, fissure, split; grudge
How to write 隙, stroke by stroke
12 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 隙
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- crack
- crevice
- gap or interval
- loophole
- discord
- rift
How 隙 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A crack 日 dividing two things 小; 阝 provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 阝 (place), shared by 160 characters on this site.
How to remember 隙
Picture light from the sun 日 squeezing through a tiny gap between two small 小 pieces, one above and one below. The 阝 on the left is a wall or hill where that crack appears.
隙 (xì) rarely stands alone in speech. It mostly appears in words like 空隙 (kòngxì), 间隙 (jiànxì) and 缝隙 (fèngxì), and it can also mean a rift between people. Example: 门缝里有一道缝隙。(Mén fèng lǐ yǒu yí dào fèngxì.) There is a small crack in the door.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 隙 (xì) with 缝 (fèng). They are close in meaning, but 缝 is the common everyday word for a seam or crack, while 隙 is more formal and usually needs a partner character. Also check the right side: it is 小 on top, 日 in the middle, and 小 again at the bottom, not 白 or 目.
Common words with 隙
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
隙 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 隙
How many strokes are in 隙?
隙 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 隙 mean?
隙 (xì) means crack, fissure, split; grudge. A common word with it is 空隙 (kòngxì), meaning "crack; gap between two objects".
How do you pronounce 隙?
隙 is pronounced xì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 隙?
The radical of 隙 is 阝, which carries the idea of "place". Dictionaries list 隙 under this radical.
Is 隙 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 隙 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I use 隙 to talk about problems between people?
Use the set phrase 有隙 (yǒu xì) or the word 嫌隙 (xiánxì), meaning a grudge or ill feeling. For example, 两人之间有嫌隙 means the two people have bad blood between them. These are fairly written or literary.
What does the idiom 乘隙 or 无隙可乘 mean?
Here 隙 means a loophole or an opening someone can exploit. 乘隙 (chéng xì) means to take advantage of a gap, and 无隙可乘 (wú xì kě chéng) means there is no weak spot to exploit.