鬼 meaning in English
disembodied spirit; ghost; devil; (suffix) person with a certain vice or addiction etc
Meaning of 鬼
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- disembodied spirit; ghost; devil
- (suffix) person with a certain vice or addiction etc
- sly; crafty; resourceful (variant of 詭|诡[gui3])
- one of the 28 constellations of ancient Chinese astronomy
How to use 鬼
鬼 means ghost or devil, and it is very common as a suffix for someone with a bad habit, like 酒鬼 (jiǔguǐ, drunkard). It also appears in casual expressions such as 见鬼 (jiànguǐ), used when something is absurd or strange. Example: 他是个酒鬼。(Tā shì ge jiǔguǐ.) He is a drunkard.
Picture 鬼 (guǐ) as a figure with a big, strange head on top, legs below, and a little hook on the side like a wisp trailing off. It looks like a person, but something is not quite right, so it is a ghost.
Common mistake: Learners often drop the small hooked stroke on the lower right, or mix up 鬼 with 魁 (kuí) and 魂 (hún), which contain 鬼 as a part. Also keep the third tone in guǐ, and do not confuse it with 贵 (guì, expensive), which has a fourth tone.
鬼 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.
鬼 guǐ · disembodied spirit · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 鬼.
| 酒鬼 | jiǔguǐ | drunkard |
| 魔鬼 | móguǐ | devil |
| 搞鬼 | gǎoguǐ | to make mischief; to play tricks |
| 见鬼 | jiànguǐ | absurd; strange |
| 吸血鬼 | xīxuèguǐ | leech; bloodsucking vermin |
| 小鬼 | xiǎoguǐ | little demon (term of endearment for a child); mischievous child |
| 鬼魂 | guǐhún | ghost |
| 黑鬼 | hēiguǐ | black devil (derogatory term for black or African person) |
| 胆小鬼 | dǎnxiǎoguǐ | coward |
| 鬼混 | guǐhùn | to hang around; to fool around |
| 有鬼 | yǒuguǐ | (fig.) to smell fishy |
| 鬼话 | guǐhuà | lie; false words |
Questions about 鬼
What does 鬼 mean?
鬼 (guǐ) means "disembodied spirit; ghost; devil; (suffix) person with a certain vice or addiction etc" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 鬼?
鬼 is made of 1 character: 鬼 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 鬼 an HSK word?
Yes. 鬼 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is calling a child 小鬼 rude?
No. 小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ) is usually affectionate and means something like little rascal. It is used for a mischievous kid you are fond of, not as an insult.
What does 搞鬼 mean?
搞鬼 (gǎoguǐ) means to make mischief or play tricks behind someone's back. For example, 谁在搞鬼？(Shéi zài gǎoguǐ?) means Who is up to something?