赤 (chì): red, scarlet, bare
赤 (chì) is a Chinese character meaning “red.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (structural) and 火 (structural). It ranks #1648 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 赤 a person 土 whose cheeks are burning 火. Its radical form 赤 (red) appears in many related characters such as 赫 (hè, awe-inspiring).
Definitions
- red
- scarlet
- bare
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 土 whose cheeks are burning 火
Decomposition: ⿱土火 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 赤 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 赤裸verb | chì luǒ | naked |
| 赤裸裸adjective | chì luǒ luǒ | bare |
| 赤手空拳phrase | chì shǒu kōng quán | (idiom) with one's bare hands (unarmed – also figuratively: without assistance) |
| 赤字noun | chì zì | (financial) deficit |
| 赤脚verb | chì jiǎo | barefoot |
| 赤道noun | chì dào | equator (of the earth or a celestial body) |
| 赤膊verb | chì bó | bare to the waist |
| 赤条条adjective | chì tiáo tiáo | stark naked |
| 努尔哈赤proper-noun | nǔ ěr hā chì | Nurhaci (1559-1626), founder and first Khan of the Manchu Later Jin dynasty 後金|后金 (from 1616) |
| 赤足verb | chì zú | barefoot |
| 面红耳赤phrase | miàn hóng ěr chì | flushed with anger (or excitement) |
| 赤诚adjective | chì chéng | utterly sincere |
| 赤贫adjective | chì pín | poverty-stricken |
| 赤胆忠心phrase | chì dǎn zhōng xīn | lit. red-bellied devotion (idiom) |
| 赤膊上阵phrase | chì bó shàng zhèn | lit. to go into battle bare-breasted (idiom) |
赤 appears in 100 compound words: 80 as the first character, 6 as the last, and 14 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 赤 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (14)
bare-handed and unarmed; without any reliance; without anything to rely on
bare-handed and unarmed; without any reliance; without anything to rely on
Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 赤.
Example Sentences
赤字由7笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
chì zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "赤字" consists of seven strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
...芳遭港媒爆外甥在中国“赚红钱” 陆委会:赤裸裸跨境镇压
. . . fāng zāo gǎng méi bào wài shēng zài zhōng guó zhuàn hóng qián lù wěi huì : chì luǒ luǒ kuà jìng zhèn yā
... Fang was exposed by Hong Kong media as her nephew "making red money" in China Mainland Affairs Council: Naked cross-border suppression
...股》中钢去年每股亏0.29元 47年以来赤字 拟配息0.15元
. . . gǔ zhōng gāng qù nián měi gǔ kuī 0 . 2 9 yuán 4 7 nián yǐ lái chì zì nǐ pèi xī 0 . 1 5 yuán
... Shares" China Steel lost 0.29 yuan per share last year, and the deficit since 47 years is planned to pay a dividend of 0.15 yuan
雷军公布新一代SU7赤霞红配色,此前已开启小订
léi jūn gōng bù xīn yī dài S U 7 chì xiá hóng pèi sè , cǐ qián yǐ kāi qǐ xiǎo dìng
Lei Jun announced a new generation of SU7 Caxia Red color scheme, which has been opened for small orders
【财圈识真假】“水记”赤马红羊年运数预测
cái juān shí zhēn jiǎ shuǐ jì chì mǎ hóng yáng nián yùn shǔ yù cè
【Financial Circle Knows True and False】"Water Record" Red Horse Red Sheep Annual Fortune Prediction
赤柱Tesla自炒撼栏 车头铲上行人路幸无...
chì zhù T e s l a zì chǎo hàn lán chē tóu chǎn shàng háng rén lù xìng wú . . .
Stanley Tesla flipped up and shook the fence, and the front of the car shoveled on the sidewalk, fortunately...
空手赤拳抓野兔并不容易。
Kōngshǒu chì quán zhuā yětù bìngbù róngyì.
It is not easy to catch a hare with your bare hands.
汤姆不习惯赤脚漫步。
Tāngmǔ bù xíguàn chìjiǎo mànbù.
Tom isn't used to walking barefooted.
你最后一次赤脚在草地上走是什么时候？
Nǐ zuìhòu yī cì chìjiǎo zài cǎodì shàng zǒu shì shénme shíhou?
When was the last time you walked barefoot on a meadow?
我们去年遇到了赤字。
Wǒmen qùnián yù dào le chìzì.
We went into the red last year.
Character Family
赤 Radical Family — Characters sharing the red radical
Related Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 赤 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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