残 (cán): to destroy, to spoil, to ruin
残 (cán) is a Chinese character meaning “to destroy.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 歹 (semantic) and 戋 (phonetic). It ranks #1148 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 残 death. Its radical form 歹 (death) appears in many related characters such as 死 (sǐ, to die), 殊 (shū, (literary) to kill), 殖 (zhí, to grow).
Definitions
- to destroy
- to spoil
- to ruin
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 残 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 残
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 残忍 | cán rěn | cruel |
| 残酷 | cán kù | cruel |
| 残骸 | cán hái | remains |
| 残留 | cán liú | to remain |
| 残暴 | cán bào | brutal |
| 残疾人 | cán jí rén | disabled person |
| 残杀 | cán shā | to massacre |
| 残局 | cán jú | endgame (in chess) |
| 残废 | cán fèi | deformity |
| 凶残 | xiōng cán | savage |
| 自相残杀 | zì xiāng cán shā | to massacre one another (idiom) |
| 残留物 | cán liú wù | remnant |
| 残余 | cán yú | remnant |
| 残害 | cán hài | to injure |
| 摧残 | cuī cán | to ravage |
残 appears in 88 compound words: 65 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 22 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 残 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (19)
impure woman, such as one who leads a promiscuous life, or one who has been abused and abandoned; fallen woman
The Travels of Lao Tsan, novel by late Qing novelist Liu E 劉鶚|刘鹗[Liu2 E4]
The Travels of Lao Tsan, novel by late Qing novelist Liu E 劉鶚|刘鹗[Liu2 E4]
impure woman, such as one who leads a promiscuous life, or one who has been abused and abandoned; fallen woman
Showing 12 of 19 idioms containing 残.
Example Sentences
这个残字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě cán zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of this incomplete character is related to its radical.
男生小便后甩一甩能预防包皮垢吗?减少尿液残留降低刺激吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi néng yù fáng bāo pí 垢 ma ? jiǎn shǎo niào yè cán liú jiàng dī cì jī ma
Can a boy's shook after urinating prevent smegma? Reduces urine residue and reduces irritation
男生小便后甩一甩能减少异味吗?尿液残留少则氨味轻吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi néng jiǎn shǎo yì wèi ma ? niào yè cán liú shǎo zé 氨 wèi qīng ma
Can a boy shake after urinating reduce odor? Is the smell of ammonia lighter if there is less urine residue?
男生小便完甩一下和膀胱排空有关吗?确保残余尿最少对吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn wán shuǎi yī xià hé bǎng 胱 pái kōng yǒu guān ma ? què bǎo cán yú niào zuì shǎo duì ma
Is it related to bladder emptying after a boy urinating? Make sure residual urine is minimal, right?
落马洲5只狗疑中毒亡警方列“残酷对待动物”跟进
luò mǎ zhōu 5 zhī gǒu yí zhōng dú wáng jǐng fāng liè cán kù duì dài dòng wù gēn jìn
5 dogs in Lok Ma Chau were suspected of being poisoned and died, and the police listed "cruelty to animals" to follow up
落马洲5地盘狗只疑中毒连环死亡 警列“残酷对待动物”调查未有人被捕
luò mǎ zhōu 5 dì pán gǒu zhī yí zhōng dú lián huán sǐ wáng jǐng liè cán kù duì dài dòng wù diào chá wèi yǒu rén bèi bǔ
Dogs suspected of being poisoned and killed in a series of deaths at 5 sites in Lok Ma Chau No one was arrested during the investigation of "cruelty to animals"
可怜的人民任凭残暴的独裁者处置。
Kělián de rénmín rènpíng cánbào de dúcáizhě chǔzhì.
The poor people were at the mercy of the cruel dictator.
我不忍目睹这种残酷的行径。
Wǒ bù rěn mùdǔ zhèzhǒng cánkù de xíngjìng.
I cannot abide to see such cruelty.
船的残骸从海底被打捞上来。
Chuán de cánhái cóng hǎidǐ bèi dǎlāo shànglái.
The wreckage of the ship was salvaged after it had gone to Davy Jones's locker.
妈妈有一张残缺的脸。
Māma yǒu yī zhāng cánquē de liǎn.
Mama had a crippled face.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 残 (cán)?
Is 残 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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