魁 meaning and stroke order
Chief, leader; best; monstrous
How to write 魁, 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 魁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- chief
- head
- outstanding
- exceptional
- stalwart
How 魁 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. One who fought 斗 a ghost 鬼; 鬼 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 鬼 (ghost), shared by 17 characters on this site.
How to remember 魁
Picture someone brave enough to fight 斗 (dòu) a ghost 鬼 (guǐ). Whoever beats the ghost becomes the chief, the best of all, which is 魁 (kuí). The ghost also hints at the sound, since 鬼 (guǐ) and 魁 (kuí) rhyme.
魁 appears mostly in set words, not on its own. It shows up in 夺魁 (duókuí, to take first place) for competitions and in 罪魁祸首 (zuìkuí-huòshǒu) for the main culprit behind a problem. Example: 她在比赛中夺魁了。(Tā zài bǐsài zhōng duókuí le.) She took first place in the competition.
Common mistake: Learners often write the inner part as 斤 or 十 instead of 斗. The 鬼 has a long sweeping last stroke that wraps under 斗, so write 斗 first inside the space and finish with that stroke. Also say second tone kuí, not third tone like 鬼 (guǐ).
Common words with 魁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
魁 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 魁
How many strokes are in 魁?
魁 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 魁 mean?
魁 (kuí) means chief, leader; best; monstrous. A common word with it is 罪魁祸首 (zuìkuí-huòshǒu), meaning "(idiom) criminal ringleader; main offender; main culprit; main cause of a disaster".
How do you pronounce 魁?
魁 is pronounced kuí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 魁?
The radical of 魁 is 鬼, which carries the idea of "ghost". Dictionaries list 魁 under this radical.
Is 魁 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 魁 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 魁 positive or negative?
It can be either. In 夺魁 it praises a winner, but in 罪魁祸首 it points to the person or thing most to blame. The core idea is simply 'the one at the head'.
What does 魁梧 mean?
魁梧 (kuíwú) describes a person who is tall, big, and strongly built. It matches the sense 'stalwart' and is common when describing someone's physique, as in 他长得很魁梧 (tā zhǎng de hěn kuíwú), he is very sturdily built.