耿 (gěng): upright

耿 (gěng) is a Chinese character meaning “upright.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 耳 (structural) and 火 (semantic). It ranks #2553 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 耿 fire. Its radical form 耳 (ear) appears in many related characters such as 闻 (wén, to hear, to smell), 职 (zhí, job, duty), 联 (lián, connect, unite).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 耳 ear10 strokesFrequency #2553耳 structural 火 semantic

Definitions

upright

Etymology & Origin

耿

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿰耳火 (layout: left-right)

Components:耳structural 火semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 耿 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
耿耿于怀	gěng gěng yú huái	to take troubles to heart (idiom)
忠心耿耿	zhōng xīn gěng gěng	loyal and devoted (idiom)
耿直	gěng zhí	honest
耿耿	gěng gěng	bright
耿马傣族佤族自治县	gěng mǎ dǎi zú wǎ zú zì zhì xiàn	Gengma Dai and Va autonomous county in Lincang 臨滄\|临沧[Lin2 cang1], Yunnan
耿马县	gěng mǎ xiàn	Gengma Dai and Va autonomous county in Lincang 臨滄\|临沧[Lin2 cang1], Yunnan
耿介	gěng jiè	upright and outstanding
耿饼	gěng bǐng	dried persimmon (from Geng village, Heze 荷澤\|荷泽, Shandong)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

耿 appears in 8 compound words: 88 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 13 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 耿 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

忠zhōng

0.5568,664 co-occurrences

鄙bǐ

0.447312 co-occurrences

怀huái

0.4401,416 co-occurrences

寐mèi

0.41578 co-occurrences

爽shuǎng

0.409402 co-occurrences

秉bǐng

0.408528 co-occurrences

仲zhòng

0.4061,044 co-occurrences

心xīn

0.4047,332 co-occurrences

伊yī

0.4023,954 co-occurrences

恭gōng

0.393648 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

耿耿于怀gěnggěngyúhuáiHSK 7+

to brood on; to not forget about a matter and always be troubled or vexed by it

phrase

忠心耿耿zhōngxīngěnggěngHSK 7+

loyal and devoted

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

他为人耿直，说话做事都很直接。

Tā wéirén gěngzhí, shuōhuà zuòshì dōu hěn zhíjiē.

He is an upright person; his words and actions are very direct.

LtnMar 2026

曾耿元携手台北爱乐少年乐团 “谁与争锋”献4...

céng gěng yuán xié shǒu tái běi ài lè shǎo nián lè tuán shéi yǔ zhēng fēng xiàn 4 . . .

Zeng Gengyuan Joins Forces with the Taipei Philharmonic Youth Orchestra to Present "Who Can Rival Us" in 4...

LtnMar 2026

曾耿元担任台北爱乐少年乐团驻团音乐家赞团员...

céng gěng yuán dān rèn tái běi ài lè shǎo nián lè tuán zhù tuán yīn lè jiā zàn tuán yuán . . .

Zeng Gengyuan Appointed Resident Musician of the Taipei Philharmonic Youth Orchestra; Praises the Members...

LtnFeb 2026

離婚黃子佼半年!孟耿如近況曝光周丹薇洩私下互動

離 hūn 黃 zǐ 佼 bàn nián ! mèng gěng rú jìn 況 pù guāng zhōu dān 薇洩 sī xià hù 動

Half a year since Huang Tzu-chao's divorce! Meng Gengru's recent updates revealed as Chou Tan-wei spills on their private interactions

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 耿 (gěng) mean in Chinese?

耿 (gěng) primarily means "upright." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2553 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 耿 have?

耿 is written with 10 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 耿?

The radical associated with 耿 is 耳 (ear). This radical appears in many characters related to ear.

What are the components of 耿?

耿 is composed of: 耳 (structural), 火 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰耳火 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 耿?

Common words with 耿 include: 耿耿于怀 (gěng gěng yú huái, "to take troubles to heart (idiom)"); 忠心耿耿 (zhōng xīn gěng gěng, "loyal and devoted (idiom)"); 耿直 (gěng zhí, "honest"); 耿耿 (gěng gěng, "bright"); 耿马傣族佤族自治县 (gěng mǎ dǎi zú wǎ zú zì zhì xiàn, "Gengma Dai and Va autonomous county in Lincang 臨滄|临沧[Lin2 cang1], Yunnan"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 耿 (gěng)?

Several characters share the pronunciation gěng: 耕 (to plow), 更 (to change or replace). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 耿 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 耿 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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