毁 (huǐ): to destroy, to ruin, to defame, to slander, to destroy by fire
毁 (huǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “to destroy.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 殳 (weapon). It ranks #1158 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 毁 a man using a tool 殳 to strike 工 a clay vessel 臼. Its radical form 殳 (weapon) appears in many related characters such as 段 (duàn, paragraph), 殴 (ōu, to beat up), 殷 (yīn, dynasty name at the end the Shang dynasty, after its move to Yinxu 殷墟 in present-day Henan).
Definitions
- to destroy
- to ruin
- to defame
- to slander
- to destroy by fire
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA man using a tool 殳 to strike 工 a clay vessel 臼
Decomposition: ⿰⿱臼工殳 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 毁 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 毁灭 | huǐ miè | to perish |
| 摧毁 | cuī huǐ | to destroy |
| 销毁 | xiāo huǐ | to destroy (by melting or burning) |
| 烧毁 | shāo huǐ | to destroy (or be destroyed) by fire |
| 坠毁 | zhuì huǐ | (of an airplane etc) to fall to the ground and crash |
| 毁坏 | huǐ huài | to damage |
| 毁掉 | huǐ diào | to destroy |
| 炸毁 | zhà huǐ | to blow up |
| 诋毁 | dǐ huǐ | to vilify |
| 毁灭性 | huǐ miè xìng | destructive |
| 捣毁 | dǎo huǐ | to destroy |
| 损毁 | sǔn huǐ | to damage |
| 毁于一旦 | huǐ yú yī dàn | (idiom) ruined in a short time (esp. of sth that took a long time or great effort to achieve) |
| 撕毁 | sī huǐ | to tear up |
| 焚毁 | fén huǐ | to burn down |
毁 appears in 38 compound words: 37 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 16 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 毁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 毁.
Example Sentences
了解毁字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè huǐ zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "毁" (huǐ) helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
长和巴拿马港口将被接管 港怒批巴拿马自毁信用
cháng hé bā ná mǎ gǎng kǒu jiāng bèi jiē guǎn gǎng nù pī bā ná mǎ zì huǐ xìn yòng
Changhe Panama port will be taken over Hong Kong angrily criticized Panama for self-destructing credit
天气恶劣要求换航线!印度医疗专机失联坠毁 机上7人全罹难
tiān qì è liè yāo qiú huàn háng xiàn ! yìn dù yī liáo zhuān jī shī lián zhuì huǐ jī shàng 7 rén quán 罹 nán
Bad weather requires a change of route! The Indian medical plane lost contact and crashed, killing all seven people on board
秘鲁军用直升机救灾任务坠毁 15人全数罹难
mì lǔ jūn yòng zhí shēng jī jiù zāi rèn wù zhuì huǐ 1 5 rén quán shǔ 罹 nán
Peruvian military helicopter crashed on a disaster relief mission, killing all 15 people
桃园人妻晨间泼酸毁夫双眼 获缓刑理由曝光
táo yuán rén qī chén jiān pō suān huǐ fū shuāng yǎn huò huǎn xíng lǐ yóu pù guāng
Taoyuan wife splashed acid in the morning and destroyed her husband's eyes, and the reason for the suspended sentence was exposed
...湾纪律部队宿舍失火 近天台后楼梯垃圾桶焚毁
. . . wān jì lǜ bù duì sù shě shī huǒ jìn tiān tái hòu lóu tī lā jī tǒng fén huǐ
... The fire broke out in the dormitory of the Bay Disciplined Forces and the trash can on the back stairs near the rooftop was burned
恶魔摧毁了广岛和长崎。
èmó cuīhuǐ le Guǎngdǎo hé Chángqí.
The devil destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
您毁掉了我的宝马！
Nín huǐdiào le wǒ de bǎomǎ!
You ruined my BMW!
小镇被暴风雨后的洪水摧毁了。
Xiǎozhèn bèi bàofēngyǔ hòu de hóngshuǐ cuīhuǐ le.
The town was destroyed by the flood after the storm.
台风吹毁了很多房屋。
Táifēng chuī huǐ le hěn duō fángwū.
Not a few houses were destroyed by the typhoon.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 毁 (huǐ) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 毁 (huǐ)?
Is 毁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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