劫 (jié): to rob, to plunder, to seize by force
劫 (jié) is a Chinese character meaning “to rob.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 去 (phonetic) and 力 (semantic). It ranks #1808 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 劫 strength. Its radical form 力 (power) appears in many related characters such as 动 (dòng, (of sth) to move), 力 (lì, power), 办 (bàn, to take care of (a matter)).
Definitions
- to rob
- to plunder
- to seize by force
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 劫 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 抢劫verb | qiǎng jié | to rob |
| 劫持verb | jié chí | to kidnap |
| 劫匪noun | jié fěi | bandit |
| 打劫verb | dǎ jié | to loot |
| 洗劫verb | xǐ jié | to loot |
| 劫机verb | jié jī | hijacking |
| 浩劫noun | hào jié | calamity |
| 洗劫一空phrase | xǐ jié yī kōng | to steal everything |
| 万劫不复phrase | wàn jié bù fù | consigned to eternal damnation |
| 劫掠verb | jié lüè | to loot |
| 劫难noun | jié nàn | calamity |
| 趁火打劫phrase | chèn huǒ dǎ jié | (lit.) to loot a burning house (idiom) |
| 劫数noun | jié shù | predestined fate (Buddhism) |
| 劫富济贫phrase | jié fù jì pín | (idiom) to rob the rich to help the poor |
| 劫狱verb | jié yù | to break into jail |
劫 appears in 39 compound words: 56 as the first character, 28 as the last, and 15 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 劫 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to be doomed eternally; to be beyond redemption; to be never able to recover
to be doomed eternally; to be beyond redemption; to be never able to recover
Example Sentences
劫字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
jié zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The character for "robbery" has a very distinctive writing style that left a deep impression on me.
云南金铺遭蒙面贼洗劫损逾3公斤黄金 警方10小时破案助全数追...
yún nán jīn pù zāo méng miàn zéi xǐ jié sǔn yú 3 gōng jīn huáng jīn jǐng fāng 1 0 xiǎo shí pò àn zhù quán shǔ zhuī . . .
Yunnan gold shop was looted by masked thieves and lost more than 3 kilograms of gold, and the police solved the case in 10 hours to help chase all the gold...
纽约曼哈顿最古老教堂 圣保罗礼拜堂历劫不摇
niǔ yuē 曼 hā dùn zuì gǔ lǎo jiào táng shèng bǎo luó lǐ bài táng lì jié bù yáo
St. Paul's Chapel, the oldest church in Manhattan, New York, has not been shaken by the disaster
趁火打劫 拖吊2公里要4万?北市严查
chèn huǒ dǎ jié tuō diào 2 gōng lǐ yāo 4 wàn ? běi shì yán chá
Robbery while the fire is in trouble and towing 2 kilometers costs 40,000 yuan? Strict investigation in Beijing City
拖吊10公里要10万!蒋万安怒轰“趁火打劫” 指示局处严查恶霸行为
tuō diào 1 0 gōng lǐ yāo 1 0 wàn ! 蒋 wàn ān nù hōng chèn huǒ dǎ jié zhǐ shì jú chǔ yán chá è bà háng wéi
Towing 10 kilometers costs 100,000 yuan! Jiang Wan'an angrily bombarded the bureau to "rob while the fire is in the fire" and instructed the bureau to strictly investigate the behavior of bullies
把手举起来！这是抢劫。
Bǎ shǒu jǔqǐ lái! Zhè shì qiǎngjié.
Hands up! This is a robbery.
抢劫银行的后果就是在监狱里蹲十年。
Qiǎngjié yínháng de hòuguǒ jiùshì zài jiānyù lǐ dūn shí nián.
Bank robbery will cost you ten years in prison.
这家银行一周前被抢劫。
Zhè jiā yínháng yī zhōu qián bèi qiǎngjié.
The bank was held up a week ago.
税收就是合法的抢劫。
Shuìshōu jiùshì héfǎ de qiǎngjié.
Taxes are just legal robbery.
好险啊，还好侥幸逃过一劫。
Hǎoxiǎn ā, háihǎo jiǎoxìng táo guo yī jié.
That was so dangerous! Fortunately, I narrowly escaped a disaster.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 力 (strength) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 劫 (jié) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 劫 and 却?
How many strokes does 劫 have?
What is the radical of 劫?
What are the components of 劫?
What are common words containing 劫?
What characters sound the same as 劫 (jié)?
Is 劫 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 劫 with real-time feedback
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