痹 (bì): paralysis, numbness

痹 (bì) is a Chinese character meaning “paralysis.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 疒 (semantic) and 畀 (phonetic). It ranks #2901 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 痹 sickness. Its radical form 疒 (illness) appears in many related characters such as 医 (yī, medicine), 病 (bìng, illness), 疼 (téng, ache).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. paralysis
  2. numbness

Etymology & Origin

痹

pictophoneticsickness

Decomposition: ⿸疒畀 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing 痹 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
麻痹verbmá bìparalysis
小儿麻痹症nounxiǎo ér má bì zhèngpoliomyelitis
小儿麻痹病毒xiǎo ér má bì bìng dúpoliovirus
麻痹大意phrasemá bì dà yìunwary
小儿麻痹nounxiǎo ér má bìpolio (poliomyelitis)
脑性麻痹nǎo xìng má bìcerebral palsy
痹证bì zhènglocalized pain disorder (in Chinese medicine)
震颤麻痹zhèn chàn má bìpalsy
痲痹má bìvariant of 麻痺|麻痹
9
Total compounds
11
As first character
56
As last character
33
As middle character

痹 appears in 9 compound words: 11 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 33 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 痹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

麻má
0.6131,386 co-occurrences
颤chàn
0.48518 co-occurrences
肌jī
0.47298 co-occurrences
症zhèng
0.459205 co-occurrences
痛tòng
0.438110 co-occurrences
湿shī
0.43348 co-occurrences
脏zāng
0.42932 co-occurrences
懈xiè
0.41912 co-occurrences
喉hóu
0.41530 co-occurrences
寒hán
0.38740 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

麻痹大意mábìdàyìHSK 7+

to lower one's guard; to be careless and unconcerned

phrase
脑性麻痹nǎo xìng má bìHSK 7+

cerebral palsy; spasticity

phrase
震颤麻痹zhèn chàn má bìHSK 7+

palsy; trembling paralysis; used for Parkinson's disease 帕金森病

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个痹字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě bì zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

The character "痹" had different meanings in ancient Chinese.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

长期的放射线照射可能导致神经纤维变性、萎缩,从而引发声带麻痹。

cháng qī de fàng shè xiàn zhào shè kě néng dǎo zhì shén jīng qiàn wéi biàn xìng , wěi suō , cóng ér yǐn fā shēng dài má bì .

Long-term exposure to radiation may cause degeneration and atrophy of nerve fibers, leading to vocal cord paralysis.

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

症状可表现为眩晕、心慌、呼吸急促,手足肌肉麻痹、昏迷等。

zhèng zhuàng kě biǎo xiàn wéi 眩 yūn , xīn huāng , hū xī jí cù , shǒu zú jī ròu má bì , hūn mí děng .

Symptoms may include dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, muscle weakness in the hands and feet, and loss of consciousness.

少数派May 2026

小的艾灸盒可以用于颈部、膝盖等关节处,缓解风湿痹痛、关节酸胀、经络不畅等问题。

xiǎo de ài jiǔ hé kě yǐ yòng yú jǐng bù , xī gài děng guān jié chǔ , huǎn jiě fēng shī bì tòng , guān jié suān zhàng , jīng lào bù chàng děng wèn tí .

Small moxibustion boxes can be used on joints such as the neck and knees to relieve rheumatic pain, joint soreness and swelling, and meridian blockages.

99 健康网Apr 2026

什么情况会得渐冻症?病毒感染如小儿麻痹病毒的类比

shén má qíng kuàng huì dé jiān dòng zhèng ? bìng dú gǎn rǎn rú xiǎo ér má bì bìng dú de lèi bǐ

Under what circumstances does ALS develop? A comparison with viral infections such as poliovirus

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 疒 (sickness) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced bì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 痹 (bì) mean in Chinese?
痹 (bì) primarily means "paralysis." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2901 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 痹 have?
痹 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 痹?
The radical associated with 痹 is 疒 (illness). This radical appears in many characters related to illness.
What are the components of 痹?
痹 is composed of: 疒 (semantic), 畀 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸疒畀 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 痹?
Common words with 痹 include: 麻痹 (má bì, "paralysis"); 小儿麻痹症 (xiǎo ér má bì zhèng, "poliomyelitis"); 小儿麻痹病毒 (xiǎo ér má bì bìng dú, "poliovirus"); 麻痹大意 (má bì dà yì, "unwary"); 小儿麻痹 (xiǎo ér má bì, "polio (poliomyelitis)"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 痹 (bì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation bì: 鼻 (nose), 比 (Belgium), 必 (certainly), 笔 (writing brush), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 痹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 痹 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 痹 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.