吹 (chuī): to blow, to play a wind instrument, to blast
吹 (chuī) is a Chinese character meaning “to blow.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 欠 (phonetic). It ranks #1382 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 吹 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- to blow
- to play a wind instrument
- to blast
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 吹 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 吹牛verb | chuī niú | to talk big |
| 吹嘘verb | chuī xū | to brag |
| 吹风机noun | chuī fēng jī | hair dryer |
| 鼓吹verb | gǔ chuī | to agitate for |
| 吹毛求疵phrase | chuī máo qiú cī | lit. to blow apart the hairs upon a fur to discover any defect (idiom) |
| 自吹自擂phrase | zì chuī zì léi | to blow one's own trumpet (idiom) |
| 吹牛皮verb | chuī niú pí | to boast |
| 吹捧verb | chuī pěng | to flatter |
| 吹风verb | chuī fēng | to let the wind blow on oneself |
| 风吹草动phrase | fēng chuī cǎo dòng | (lit.) grass stirring in the wind (idiom) |
| 告吹verb | gào chuī | to fizzle out |
| 吹奏verb | chuī zòu | to play (wind instruments) |
| 吹拂verb | chuī fú | to brush |
| 电吹风noun | diàn chuī fēng | hair dryer |
| 吹号 | chuī hào | to blow a brass instrument |
吹 appears in 70 compound words: 63 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 23 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 吹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
to be blown by the wind and battered by the rain; to experience setbacks or hardships
to be blown by the wind and battered by the rain; to experience setbacks or hardships
Showing 9 of 10 idioms containing 吹.
Example Sentences
请吹下这杯茶，解解渴再继续工作。
qǐng chuī xià zhè bēi chá , xiè xiè kě zài jì xù gōng zuò .
Blow on this cup of tea to cool it down, quench your thirst, and then get back to work.
大埔私家车遇路障 68岁女司机“吹爆波”涉醉驾被捕
dà 埔 sī jiā chē yù lù zhàng 6 8 suì nǚ sī jī chuī bào bō shè zuì jià bèi bǔ
Private Car Hits Roadblock in Tai Po; 68-Year-Old Female Driver Arrested on Suspicion of Drunk Driving After Failing Breathalyzer Test
避免惹火习近平让“川习会”告吹 川普政府搁置130亿美元对台军售
bì miǎn rě huǒ xí jìn píng ràng chuān xí huì gào chuī chuān pǔ zhèng fǔ gē zhì 1 3 0 yì měi yuán duì tái jūn shòu
To avoid anger, Xi Jinping let the "Sichuan-Xi meeting" fail The Trump administration shelved $13 billion in arms sales to Taiwan
支持度仅4成...川普激情吹嘘政绩 救不了声望
zhī chí dù jǐn 4 chéng . . . chuān pǔ jī qíng chuī 嘘 zhèng jì jiù bù le shēng wàng
Support is only 40%... Trump's passionate bragging about his achievements cannot save his reputation
特朗普在国情咨文中吹嘘股市上升成就 承诺为部分劳工退休储蓄注...
tè lǎng pǔ zài guó qíng zī wén zhōng chuī 嘘 gǔ shì shàng shēng chéng jiù chéng nuò wéi bù fēn láo gōng tuì xiū chǔ xù zhù . . .
In his State of the Union address, Trump boasted about the rise in the stock market and promised to invest in some of the labor retirement savings...
山东济南网红巨型空飘鳌鱼被大风吹走,现场工作人员尝..
shān dōng jì nán wǎng hóng jù xíng kōng piāo 鳌 yú bèi dà fēng chuī zǒu , xiàn chǎng gōng zuò rén yuán cháng . .
Shandong Jinan Internet celebrity giant floating turtle was blown away by strong winds, and the on-site staff tasted:
是什么风把你吹来了啊？
Shì shénme fēng bǎ nǐ chuī lái le ā?
What has brought you here?
你会不会教我学吹气风笛？
Nǐ huìbùhuì jiāo wǒ xué chuīqì fēngdí?
Can you teach me how to play the bagpipes?
她老是吹嘘自己是个游泳健将。
Tā lǎoshi chuīxū zìjǐ shì ge yóuyǒng jiànjiàng.
She always boasts of being a good swimmer.
不要这么吹毛求疵。
Bù yào zhème chuīmáoqiúcī.
You don't have to go getting so hairy about such a small thing.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 吹 (chuī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 吹 and 软?
How many strokes does 吹 have?
What is the radical of 吹?
What are the components of 吹?
What are common words containing 吹?
What characters sound the same as 吹 (chuī)?
Is 吹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 吹 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.