超 (chāo): to exceed, to overtake, to surpass
超 (chāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to exceed.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 走 (semantic) and 召 (phonetic). It ranks #754 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 超 run. Its radical form 走 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 走 (zǒu, to walk), 起 (qǐ, to rise), 越 (yuè, generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods).
Definitions
- to exceed
- to overtake
- to surpass
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 超 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 超
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 超级adjective | chāo jí | super- | 5 |
| 超过verb | chāo guò | to surpass | 4 |
| 超市noun | chāo shì | supermarket (abbr. for 超級市場|超级市场[chao1 ji2 shi4 chang3]) | 1 |
| 超越verb | chāo yuè | to surpass | 6 |
| 超出verb | chāo chū | to exceed | 5 |
| 超速 | chāo sù | to exceed the speed limit | 5 |
| 高超adjective | gāo chāo | excellent | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 超人 | chāo rén | superhuman |
| 超模 | chāo mó | supermodel |
| 超度 | chāo dù | to surpass |
| 超声波 | chāo shēng bō | ultrasound (scan) |
| 超凡 | chāo fán | out of the ordinary |
| 超重 | chāo zhòng | overweight (baggage, freight) |
| 超声 | chāo shēng | ultrasonic |
| 超负荷 | chāo fù hè | excess load |
| 超时 | chāo shí | to exceed the time limit |
| 超前 | chāo qián | to be ahead of one's time |
| 超标 | chāo biāo | to cross the limit |
| 超群 | chāo qún | surpassing |
| 超新星 | chāo xīn xīng | supernova |
| 超常 | chāo cháng | exceptional |
| 超载 | chāo zài | to overload |
超 appears in 100 compound words: 79 as the first character, 19 as the last, and 2 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 超 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
他的表现超出了大家的预期，获得了高度评价。
Tā de biǎoxiàn chāochū le dàjiā de yùqī, huòdé le gāodù píngjià.
His performance exceeded everyone's expectations and received high praise.
谁被虹口新春美到了?中外游客:超出片,太震撼!| ..
shéi bèi hóng kǒu xīn chūn měi dào le ? zhōng wài yóu kè chāo chū piān , tài zhèn hàn ! . .
Who is beautiful by Hongkou New Year? Chinese and foreign tourists: beyond the film, too shocking! | The New Year's Day
大年初一全社会跨区域人员流动量超2.1亿人次 全国..
dà nián chū yī quán shè huì kuà ōu yù rén yuán liú dòng liáng chāo . yì rén cì quán guó . .
The first day of the Lunar New Year saw more than 210 million inter-regional movements of people across the country...
...问“一句话下单”受年轻人追捧,00后占比超40%..
. . . wèn yī gōu huà xià shàn shòu nián qīng rén zhuī pěng , hòu zhàn bǐ chāo . .
... Asked "a word to order" by young people sought after, after 00 accounted for more than 40% of...
日本一处地下水有机氟化合物超标约2000倍
rì běn yī chǔ dì xià shuǐ yǒu jī 氟 huā gě wù chāo biāo yāo bèi
A groundwater in Japan exceeded the organic fluorine compound limit by about 2,000 times.
新冬能·场外音|关尹:超越胜负的拥抱比金牌更可贵
xīn dōng néng chǎng wài yīn guān 尹 chāo yuè shèng fù de yōng bào bǐ jīn pái gēng kě guì
New Dongneng - Off the field | Guan Yin: Embrace beyond victory is more valuable than gold medals
打扰一下，超市现在营业吗？
Dǎrǎo yīxià, chāoshì xiànzài yíngyè ma?
Excuse me. Is the supermarket open?
这个房间超赞的，对不对？
Zhège fángjiān chāo zàn de, duìbùduì?
This room's pretty awesome, eh?
你要不要我从超市给你带些什么？
Nǐ yàobúyào wǒ cóng chāoshì gěi nǐ dài xiē shénme?
Do you want me to bring you anything from the supermarket?
这里附近有超市吗？
Zhèlǐ fùjìn yǒu chāoshì ma?
Is there a supermarket nearby?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 超 (chāo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 超 and 绍?
How many strokes does 超 have?
What is the radical of 超?
What are the components of 超?
What are common words containing 超?
What characters sound the same as 超 (chāo)?
Is 超 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 超 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.