馁 meaning and stroke order
Famished, hungry, starving
How to write 馁, stroke by stroke
10 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 馁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) hungry; starving
- (bound form) dispirited
- (literary) (of fish) putrid
How 馁 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Food.
饣 gives the meaning and 妥 hints at the sound.
Radical: 饣 (food), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 馁
The food radical 饣 on the left tells you this is about eating, and 妥 (tuǒ) on the right gives the sound. Picture someone with no food left who feels weak and loses heart.
Today 馁 (něi) is almost never used alone. It appears mainly in 气馁 (qìněi), meaning to lose heart or feel discouraged. Example: 别气馁，再试一次。(Bié qìněi, zài shì yí cì.) Don't be discouraged, try again.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 馁 as tuǒ because of the phonetic 妥, but the correct reading is něi in the third tone. Also, don't use 馁 on its own to say you are hungry. Say 饿 (è) instead.
Common words with 馁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 气馁 | qìněi | to be discouraged | HSK 7-9 |
馁 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 馁
How many strokes are in 馁?
馁 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 馁 mean?
馁 (něi) means famished, hungry, starving. A common word with it is 气馁 (qìněi), meaning "to be discouraged".
How do you pronounce 馁?
馁 is pronounced něi, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 馁?
The radical of 馁 is 饣, which carries the idea of "food". Dictionaries list 馁 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 馁?
The traditional form of 馁 is 餒. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 馁 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 馁 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 馁 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 馁 and 饿?
饿 (è) is the everyday word for hungry, as in 我饿了 (wǒ è le). 馁 is a bound or literary form. In modern speech it mostly carries the figurative sense of being dispirited.
Are there other set phrases with 馁 besides 气馁?
Yes. 胜不骄，败不馁 (shèng bù jiāo, bài bù něi) means not being arrogant in victory and not losing heart in defeat. It is a common saying in sports and motivational writing.