刚 (gāng): hard, firm, strong
刚 (gāng) is a Chinese character meaning “hard.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 冈 (phonetic) and 刂 (semantic). It ranks #621 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 刚 knife. Its radical form 刂 (knife) appears in many related characters such as 分 (fēn, to divide), 别 (bié, to leave), 到 (dào, to reach).
Definitions
- hard
- firm
- strong
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 刚 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 刚
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 刚刚adverb | gāng gang | just recently | 3 |
| 刚才noun | gāng cái | just now | 3 |
| 刚好adjective/adverb | gāng hǎo | just | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 金刚noun | jīn gāng | diamond |
| 刚果proper-noun | gāng guǒ | Congo (Congo-Brazzaville or Congo-Kinshasa) |
| 刚巧adverb | gāng qiǎo | by chance |
| 阳刚adjective | yáng gāng | manly |
| 血气方刚phrase | xuè qì fāng gāng | full of sap (idiom) |
| 刚毅adjective | gāng yì | resolute |
| 金刚石noun | jīn gāng shí | diamond |
| 刚正不阿phrase | gāng zhèng bù ē | upright and plainspoken |
| 刚强adjective | gāng qiáng | firm |
| 以柔克刚 | yǐ róu kè gāng | to use softness to conquer strength (idiom) |
| 刚愎自用phrase | gāng bì zì yòng | obstinate and self-opinionated (idiom) |
| 刚正adjective | gāng zhèng | honest |
| 刚性noun | gāng xìng | rigidity |
| 天刚亮 | tiān gāng liàng | daybreak |
| 金刚钻 | jīn gāng zuàn | a diamond |
刚 appears in 55 compound words: 55 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 29 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 刚 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
to be upright and not flatter; to be righteous and not curry favor with others
Showing 9 of 10 idioms containing 刚.
Example Sentences
他刚才还在这里，怎么一转眼就不见了？
Tā gāngcái hái zài zhèlǐ, zěnme yī zhuǎnyǎn jiù bù jiàn le?
He was just here; how did he disappear in the blink of an eye?
王传一挑战相声脱口秀 与朱德刚搭档登台倒数
wáng chuán yī tiāo zhàn xiāng shēng tuō kǒu xiù yǔ zhū dé gāng dā dàng dēng tái dǎo shǔ
Wang Chuanyi challenged the cross talk show and partnered with Zhu Degang on stage to count down
PS5 独占,《漫威金刚狼》官宣 2026 年 9 月 15 日...
P S 5 dú zhàn , màn wēi jīn gāng láng guān xuān 2 0 2 6 nián 9 yuè 1 5 rì . . .
PS5 exclusive, "Marvel Wolverine" officially announced on September 15, 2026...
...海湖庄园遭击毙 21岁嫌身分曝光!家人才刚报失踪
. . . hǎi hú zhuāng yuán zāo jī bì 2 1 suì xián shēn fēn pù guāng ! jiā rén cái gāng bào shī zōng
... Mar-a-Lago was killed and the identity of the 21-year-old suspect was exposed! The family has just been reported missing
...走基层|一把推子藏着消防“传帮带”的暖与刚
. . . zǒu jī céng yī bǎ tuī zǐ zàng zhe xiāo fáng chuán bāng dài de nuǎn yú gāng
... Go grass-roots | A pusher hides the fire "pass on the belt" of the warm and just
科学内调成美肤新刚需,肌原光以“产学研”硬实力登陆..
kē xué nèi diào chéng měi fū xīn gāng xū , jī yuán guāng yǐ chǎn xué yán yìng shí lì dēng lù . .
Scientific internal adjustment has become a new demand for skin beauty, Myogen Light with "production, research and learning" hard power to land...
刚才和你说话的人是谁？
Gāngcái hé nǐ shuōhuà de rén shì shéi?
Who is the man that you were talking with?
不好意思，你刚才说什么？
Bù hǎoyìsi, nǐ gāngcái shuō shénme?
I'm sorry, but I didn't catch what you said.
刚才桌子上有一本书吗？
Gāngcái zhuōzi shàng yǒu yī běn shū ma?
Was there a book on the desk a moment ago?
刚刚敲过了八点钟，不是吗？
Gānggang qiāo guo le bā diǎnzhōng, bù shì ma?
It has just struck eight, hasn't it?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 刂 (knife) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 刚 (gāng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 刚 and 软?
How many strokes does 刚 have?
What is the radical of 刚?
What are the components of 刚?
What are common words containing 刚?
What characters sound the same as 刚 (gāng)?
Is 刚 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 刚 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.