Meaning of 凶手
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- murderer
- assassin
How to use 凶手
凶手 is used in news reports, crime stories and detective dramas to refer to the person who committed a killing or violent attack. It often appears with verbs like 抓到 (zhuādào, to catch) or 找到 (zhǎodào, to find). Example: 警察终于抓到了凶手。(Jǐngchá zhōngyú zhuādào le xiōngshǒu.) The police finally caught the murderer.
凶 (xiōng) means fierce or violent, and 手 (shǒu) is a hand. A violent hand is the person who did the killing, so 凶手 is the murderer.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 凶 as 区 or 冈 because the shapes look alike. 凶 has an X inside an open box that opens at the top. Also keep the first tone on xiōng; it is not xióng, which is the tone of 熊 (xióng, bear) and 雄 (xióng, male).
凶手 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
凶 xiōng · vicious · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
手 shǒu · hand · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 凶手.
| 手机 | shǒujī | cell phone; mobile phone |
| 洗手间 | xǐshǒujiān | toilet; lavatory |
| 手表 | shǒubiǎo | wristwatch |
| 举手 | jǔshǒu | to raise a hand; to put up one's hand (as signal) |
| 手指 | shǒuzhǐ | finger |
| 对手 | duìshǒu | opponent; rival |
| 选手 | xuǎnshǒu | athlete; contestant |
| 歌手 | gēshǒu | singer |
| 握手 | wòshǒu | to shake hands |
| 手续 | shǒuxù | procedure; formalities |
| 分手 | fēnshǒu | to part company; to split up |
| 手术 | shǒushù | (surgical) operation; surgery |
Questions about 凶手
What does 凶手 mean?
凶手 (xiōngshǒu) means "murderer; assassin" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 凶手?
凶手 is made of 2 characters: 凶 (4 strokes), 手 (4 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 凶手 an HSK word?
Yes. 凶手 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 凶手 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 凶手 is written 兇手.
What is the difference between 凶手 and 杀手?
凶手 is the person who actually committed a particular killing or attack, often in a criminal case. 杀手 (shāshǒu) is a hired killer or assassin, someone who kills as a job.
Can 凶 be used on its own to describe a person?
Yes. As an adjective, 凶 means fierce or harsh, as in 他很凶 (tā hěn xiōng), he is very fierce. In that sense it describes an angry or scary manner and does not mean murderer.