渴 (kě): thirsty
渴 (kě) is a Chinese character meaning “thirsty.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 曷 (phonetic). It ranks #1945 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 渴 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- thirsty
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 渴 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 渴
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 饥渴adjective | jī kě | hungry and thirsty |
| 口渴noun | kǒu kě | thirsty |
| 渴求verb | kě qiú | to long for |
| 如饥似渴phrase | rú jī sì kě | to hunger for sth (idiom) |
| 解渴verb | jiě kě | to quench |
| 干渴 | gān kě | parched |
| 远水不解近渴 | yuǎn shuǐ bù jiě jìn kě | lit. distant water does not cure present thirst |
| 爱才若渴 | ài cái ruò kě | (idiom) to be eager to surround oneself with talented people |
| 渴不可耐 | kě bù kě nài | to be so thirsty as to no longer be able to tolerate it |
| 望梅止渴phrase | wàng méi zhǐ kě | lit. to quench one's thirst by thinking of plums (idiom) |
| 消渴 | xiāo kě | condition characterized by thirst, hunger, frequent urination and weight loss, identified in TCM with type 2 diabetes |
| 临渴穿井 | lín kě chuān jǐng | lit. face thirst and dig a well (idiom) |
| 求贤若渴 | qiú xián ruò kě | (idiom) to eagerly seek talented people |
| 饮鸩止渴phrase | yǐn zhèn zhǐ kě | lit. drinking poison in the hope of quenching one's thirst (idiom) |
| 临渴掘井phrase | lín kě jué jǐng | lit. not to dig a well until one is thirsty |
渴 appears in 17 compound words: 24 as the first character, 65 as the last, and 12 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 渴 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
lit. face thirst and dig a well (idiom); fig. not to make adequate provision; to act when it is too late
to fail to make a timely preparation and look for a solution at the last minute
Example Sentences
在高温环境下工作，工人们很容易口渴，需要经常补充水分。
Zài gāowēn huánjìng xià gōngzuò, gōngrénmen hěn róngyì kǒukě, xūyào jīngcháng bǔchōng shuǐfèn.
Working in high-temperature environments, workers easily get thirsty and need to replenish water frequently.
这种对超高带宽的极端渴求，正在上游掀起一场全球性的“产能大迁徙”。
zhè zhǒng duì chāo gāo dài kuān de jí duān kě qiú , zhèng zài shàng yóu xiān qǐ yī chǎng quán qiú xìng de chǎn néng dà qiān xǐ .
This extreme demand for ultra-high bandwidth is sparking a global “mass migration of production capacity” in the upstream sector.
而这种对高带宽与低延迟的饥渴，在端侧 AI 场景下被放大了数倍。
ér zhè zhǒng duì gāo dài kuān yǔ dī yán chí de jī kě , zài duān cè A I chǎng jǐng xià bèi fàng dà le shǔ bèi .
And this demand for high bandwidth and low latency is amplified several times over in edge AI scenarios.
《十四岁的小舞者》:她用孤独和对自由的渴望,对抗世界
shí sì suì de xiǎo wǔ zhě : tā yòng gū dú hé duì zì yóu de kě wàng , duì kàng shì jiè
"The 14-Year-Old Dancer": She Faces the World with Her Loneliness and Longing for Freedom
清明雨神助攻缓解竹科渴 宝山、宝二水库进帐逾205万吨水
qīng míng yǔ shén zhù gōng huǎn jiě zhú kē kě bǎo shān , bǎo èr shuǐ kù jìn zhàng yú 2 0 5 wàn dūn shuǐ
Qingming Rain Brings Relief to Thirsty Hsinchu Science Park; Baoshan and Bao II Reservoirs Receive Over 2.05 Million Cubic Meters of Water
...曝好消息:下周春雨讯号转明显 中部水库止渴
. . . pù hǎo xiāo xī : xià zhōu chūn yǔ xùn hào zhuǎn míng xiǎn zhōng bù shuǐ kù zhǐ kě
...Good news: Signs of spring rain will become more pronounced next week, providing much-needed relief for reservoirs in central regions
如何引起女人的渴望？
Rúhé yǐnqǐ nǚrén de kěwàng?
How to arouse a woman's desire?
你有没有什么喝的给我解渴吗？
Nǐ yǒuméiyǒu shénme hē de gěi wǒ jiěkě ma?
Do you have a drink to help quench my thirst?
世界所有人都渴望和平。
Shìjiè suǒyǒu rén dōu kěwàng hépíng.
All the world desires peace.
我喝水因为我渴了。
Wǒ hē shuǐ yīnwèi wǒ kě le.
I drink water because I am thirsty.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 渴 (kě) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 渴 and 喝?
How many strokes does 渴 have?
What is the radical of 渴?
What are the components of 渴?
What are common words containing 渴?
What characters sound the same as 渴 (kě)?
Is 渴 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 渴 with real-time feedback
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