靠 (kào): to lean against or on, to stand by the side of, to come near to
靠 (kào) is a Chinese character meaning “to lean against or on.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 告 (phonetic) and 非 (semantic). It ranks #808 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 靠 people back-to-back. Its radical form 非 (wrong) appears in many related characters such as 非 (fēi, abbr. for 非洲, Africa).
Definitions
- to lean against or on
- to stand by the side of
- to come near to
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 靠 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 靠
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 靠近verb | kào jìn | to be close to | 5 |
| 可靠 | kě kào | reliable | 5 |
| 依靠verb/noun | yī kào | to rely on sth (for support etc) | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 靠边 | kào biān | to keep to the side |
| 投靠 | tóu kào | to rely on help from sb |
| 停靠 | tíng kào | to call at |
| 靠不住 | kào bu zhù | unreliable |
| 靠岸 | kào àn | (of a boat) to reach the shore |
| 靠得住 | kào de zhù | reliable |
| 靠拢 | kào lǒng | to draw close to |
| 无依无靠 | wú yī wú kào | (idiom) having nothing to rely on |
| 倚靠 | yǐ kào | to lean on |
| 靠垫 | kào diàn | back cushion |
| 牢靠 | láo kào | firm and solid |
| 可靠性 | kě kào xìng | reliability |
| 背靠背 | bèi kào bèi | back to back |
| 靠山 | kào shān | patron |
| 挂靠 | guà kào | to be affiliated with |
靠 appears in 43 compound words: 44 as the first character, 40 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 靠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
这个靠字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě kào zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "靠" had different meanings in Classical Chinese.
无糖食品店靠谱吗?线下专营店比网购更可信吗
wú táng shí pǐn diàn kào pǔ ma ? xiàn xià zhuān yíng diàn bǐ wǎng gòu gēng kě xìn ma
Are sugar free food stores reliable? Is offline franchise store more credible than online shopping?
...局 日亚基金成大赢家!港美股陷低迷见红 靠“呢个玩法”逆市保平安兼稳赚
. . . jú rì yà jī jīn chéng dà yíng jiā ! gǎng měi gǔ xiàn dī mí jiàn hóng kào ne gè wán fǎ nì shì bǎo píng ān jiān wěn zhuàn
... Bureau Nichiya Fund became a big winner! Hong Kong and U.S. stocks are in a downturn and are in the red, relying on "this way of playing" to go against the market to ensure safety and make steady profits
“只会表演不会生产,全靠政府买单”中国春晚机器人惊艳全球,《经济...
zhī huì biǎo yǎn bù huì shēng chǎn , quán kào zhèng fǔ mǎi dān zhōng guó chūn wǎn jī qì rén jīng yàn quán qiú , jīng jì . . .
"Only performance will not produce, it all depends on the government to pay" China Spring Festival Gala robots amazed the world, "Economy...
退休仅存20万 大叔靠这2招10年后抱千万
tuì xiū jǐn cún 2 0 wàn dà shū kào zhè 2 zhāo 1 0 nián hòu bào qiān wàn
Only 200,000 yuan is left for retirement, and the uncle relies on these 2 tricks to hold tens of millions in 10 years
台中公车驶入校园+1 “282绕”停靠雾峰国中
tái zhōng gōng chē shǐ rù jiào yuán 1 2 8 2 rào tíng kào wù fēng guó zhōng
Taichung bus drove into the campus +1 "282 rounds" and stopped at Wufeng Junior High School
他靠什么维持生活?
Tā kào shénme wéichíshēnghuó?
What does he do for a living?
你想靠窗还是走廊?
Nǐ xiǎng kàochuāng háishi zǒuláng?
Would you like a window or aisle seat?
他们不是很可靠,是吗?
Tāmen bù shì hěn kěkào, shì ma?
They aren't very reliable, are they?
靠!瑞士的火车什么都有!
Kào! Ruìshì de huǒchē shénme dōu yǒu!
Damn! Swiss trains have everything!
Character Family
非 Radical Family — Characters sharing the wrong radical
Related Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 靠 (kào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 靠 and 上?
How many strokes does 靠 have?
What is the radical of 靠?
What are the components of 靠?
What are common words containing 靠?
What characters sound the same as 靠 (kào)?
Is 靠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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