讳 (huì): to avoid mentioning, taboo word, name of deceased emperor or superior

讳 (huì) is a Chinese character meaning “to avoid mentioning.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 讠 (semantic) and 韦 (phonetic). It ranks #2698 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 讳 speech. Its radical form 讠 (speech) appears in many related characters such as 认 (rèn, to recognize, to admit), 记 (jì, to remember, to record), 识 (shí, to know, knowledge).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to avoid mentioning
  2. taboo word
  3. name of deceased emperor or superior

Etymology & Origin

讳

pictophoneticspeech

Decomposition: ⿰讠韦 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

Practice writing 讳 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
忌讳verbjì huìtaboo
供认不讳phrasegòng rèn bù huìto make a full confession
直言不讳phrasezhí yán bù huìto speak bluntly (idiom)
避讳verbbì huìto avoid a taboo (usu. on the given names of emperors or one's elders)
讳莫如深phrasehuì mò rú shēn(idiom) to steadfastly refuse to discuss the matter
讳言huì yánto avoid stating openly (esp. sensitive or unpleasant matters, usu. in the negative, as in 不諱言|不讳言 "to...
隐讳verbyǐn huìto hold back from saying precisely what is on one's mind
直言无讳zhí yán wú huìsee 直言不諱|直言不讳
不讳verbbù huìwithout concealing anything
隐讳号yǐn huì hàocross symbol (×), used to replace a character one does not wish to display
讳名huì míngtaboo name
名讳nounmíng huìtaboo name (e.g. of emperor)
讳疾忌医phrasehuì jí jì yīhiding a sickness for fear of treatment (idiom)
讳称huì chēngeuphemism
犯讳fàn huìto use the tabooed name 名諱|名讳 of hierarchical superiors (old)
15
Total compounds
33
As first character
60
As last character
7
As middle character

讳 appears in 15 compound words: 33 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 7 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 讳 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

忌jì
0.550522 co-occurrences
避bì
0.5371,216 co-occurrences
沮jǔ
0.44964 co-occurrences
渊yuān
0.40052 co-occurrences
隐yǐn
0.398106 co-occurrences
君jūn
0.395318 co-occurrences
字zì
0.392810 co-occurrences
言yán
0.387845 co-occurrences
祖zǔ
0.379396 co-occurrences
渠qú
0.37664 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

供认不讳gòngrènbùhuìHSK 7+

to confess everything; to make a full confession; to plead guilty

phrase
讳疾忌医huìjíjìyīHSK 7+

to avoid seeking medical attention for fear of disease; to conceal one's shortcomings for fear of criticism

phrase
讳莫如深huìmòrúshēnHSK 7+

to closely guard a secret and not utter a single word about it; to not breathe a word

phrase
直言不讳zhíyánbùhuìHSK 7+

to call a spade a spade; to speak without reservation; not to mince one's words

phrase
直言无讳zhí yán wú huìHSK 7+

see 直言不諱|直言不讳

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

讳语是交流思想的重要工具。

huì yǔ shì jiāo liú sī xiǎng de chóng yāo gōng jù .

Euphemisms are an important tool for communicating ideas.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

经讯问,以李某、廖某为首的团伙对违法犯罪事实供认不讳,案件正在进一步侦办中。

jīng xùn wèn , yǐ lǐ mǒu , 廖 mǒu wéi shǒu de tuán huǒ duì wéi fǎ fàn zuì shì shí gōng rèn bù huì , àn jiàn zhèng zài jìn yī bù zhēn bàn zhōng .

Upon interrogation, the gang led by Li and Liao fully confessed to the criminal acts, and the case is currently under further investigation.

IT之家Jun 2026

面对固定证据,王某对其改装行为供认不讳。

miàn duì gù dìng zhèng jù , wáng mǒu duì qí gǎi zhuāng háng wéi gōng rèn bù huì .

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Wang confessed to the modifications without reservation.

IT之家Jun 2026

经审讯,7 名犯罪嫌疑人对开设网络赌局、组织赌博牟利的违法事实供认不讳。

jīng shěn xùn , 7 míng fàn zuì xián yí rén duì kāi shè wǎng lào dǔ jú , zǔ zhī dǔ bó Móu lì de wéi fǎ shì shí gōng rèn bù huì .

Following interrogation, the seven suspects fully confessed to the illegal acts of operating an online gambling ring and organizing gambling for profit.

奇客SolidotMay 2026

在酒精问题上报告更直言不讳,称酒精有毒不要喝。

zài jiǔ jīng wèn tí shàng bào gào gēng zhí yán bù huì , chèn jiǔ jīng yǒu dú bù yāo hē .

The report was even more blunt on the issue of alcohol, stating that alcohol is toxic and should not be consumed.

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

...神秘人贩子“梅姨”落网 对贩卖儿童供认不讳

. . . shén mì rén fàn zǐ méi yí luò wǎng duì fàn mài ér tóng gōng rèn bù huì

...Mysterious human trafficker "Aunt Mei" arrested; she has confessed to child trafficking

Tatoeba

公众终于对关于空气污染的意见直言不讳了。

Gōngzhòng zhōngyú duì guānyú kōngqìwūrǎn de yìjiàn zhíyánbùhuì le.

Public feeling against air pollution has at last become vocal.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 讠 (speech) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced huì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 讳 (huì) mean in Chinese?
讳 (huì) primarily means "to avoid mentioning." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2698 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 讳 and 围?
讳 (huì) and 围 (wéi) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 讠 vs 囗 (same 韦 component).
How many strokes does 讳 have?
讳 is written with 6 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 讳?
The radical associated with 讳 is 讠 (speech). This radical appears in many characters related to speech.
What are the components of 讳?
讳 is composed of: 讠 (semantic), 韦 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰讠韦 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 讳?
Common words with 讳 include: 忌讳 (jì huì, "taboo"); 供认不讳 (gòng rèn bù huì, "to make a full confession"); 直言不讳 (zhí yán bù huì, "to speak bluntly (idiom)"); 避讳 (bì huì, "to avoid a taboo (usu. on the given names of emperors or one's elders)"); 讳莫如深 (huì mò rú shēn, "(idiom) to steadfastly refuse to discuss the matter"). There are over 15 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 讳 (huì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation huì: 会 (can), 回 (to circle), 挥 (to wave). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 讳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 讳 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 讳 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.