弛 (chí): to unstring a bow, to slacken, to relax

弛 (chí) is a Chinese character meaning “to unstring a bow.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 弓 (semantic) and 也 (phonetic). It ranks #2889 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 弛 bow. Its radical form 弓 (bow) appears in many related characters such as 弟 (dì, younger brother), 张 (zhāng, to open up), 强 (qiáng, stubborn).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: 弓 bow6 strokesFrequency #2889弓 semantic也 phonetic

Definitions

  1. to unstring a bow
  2. to slacken
  3. to relax

Etymology & Origin

弛

pictophoneticbow

Decomposition: ⿰弓也 (layout: left-right)

Components:弓semantic也phonetic

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
松弛sōng chíto relax
弛缓chí huǎnto relax
张弛zhāng chítension and relaxation
松弛法sōng chí fǎrelaxation (alternative medicine)
弛张热chí zhāng rèremittent fever
肌肉松弛剂jī ròu sōng chí jìmuscle relaxant (medicine)
废弛fèi chíto fall into disuse (of laws, customs etc)
懈弛xiè chíslack (discipline)
8
Total compounds
25
As first character
50
As last character
25
As middle character

弛 appears in 8 compound words: 25 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 25 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 弛 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

肌jī
0.5491,185 co-occurrences
豫yù
0.5341,062 co-occurrences
松sōng
0.5163,057 co-occurrences
废fèi
0.464756 co-occurrences
懈xiè
0.462114 co-occurrences
肉ròu
0.445834 co-occurrences
怠dài
0.42566 co-occurrences
禁jīn
0.397648 co-occurrences
张zhāng
0.389858 co-occurrences
缓huǎn
0.389180 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个弛字的意思与它的部首有关。

zhè gě chí zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .

The meaning of the character "弛" is related to its radical.

SmzdmMar 2026

中年女性眼皮松弛下垂?温润养护眼油提拉收紧眼轮廓

zhōng nián nǚ xìng yǎn pí sōng chí xià chuí ? wēn rùn yǎng hù yǎn yóu tí lā shōu jǐn yǎn lún kuò

Are your eyelids sagging as you age? Try this nourishing eye oil to lift and firm the eye area.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...生小便后甩一甩会不会导致尿失禁?盆底肌松弛者需谨慎吗

. . . shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi huì bù huì dǎo zhì niào shī jīn ? pén de jī sōng chí zhě xū jǐn shèn ma

... Will a shake after urinating cause urinary incontinence? Should people with loose pelvic floor muscles be cautious?

Character Family

弓 Radical Family — Characters sharing the bow radical

弹dàn弧hú弥mí强qiáng弦xián张zhāng弟dì弓gōng弘hóng弱ruò

Related Characters

弟dì张zhāng强qiáng引yǐn弯wān弱ruò弹dàn弓gōng弘hóng弥mí

Homophones — Characters pronounced chí

池chí驰chí吃chī痴chī迟chí持chí侈chǐ齿chǐ耻chǐ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 弛 (chí) mean in Chinese?
弛 (chí) primarily means "to unstring a bow." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2889 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 弛 and 地?
弛 (chí) and 地 (dì) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 弓 vs 土 (same 也 component).
How many strokes does 弛 have?
弛 is written with 6 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 弛?
The radical associated with 弛 is 弓 (bow). This radical appears in many characters related to bow.
What are the components of 弛?
弛 is composed of: 弓 (semantic), 也 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰弓也 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 弛?
Common words with 弛 include: 松弛 (sōng chí, "to relax"); 弛缓 (chí huǎn, "to relax"); 张弛 (zhāng chí, "tension and relaxation"); 松弛法 (sōng chí fǎ, "relaxation (alternative medicine)"); 弛张热 (chí zhāng rè, "remittent fever"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 弛 (chí)?
Several characters share the pronunciation chí: 池 (pool), 驰 (to gallop), 吃 (to eat), 痴 (imbecile), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 弛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 弛 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 弛 with real-time feedback

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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.