魁 (kuí): chief, head, outstanding
魁 (kuí) is a Chinese character meaning “chief.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 鬼 (structural) and 斗 (structural). It ranks #2489 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 魁 one who fought 斗 a ghost 鬼; 鬼 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 鬼 (ghost) appears in many related characters such as 鬼 (guǐ, disembodied spirit), 魂 (hún, soul), 魄 (pò, (literary) soul).
Definitions
- chief
- head
- outstanding
Etymology & Origin
ideographicOne who fought 斗 a ghost 鬼; 鬼 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿺鬼斗 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 魁 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 罪魁祸首 | zuì kuí huò shǒu | (idiom) criminal ringleader |
| 魁梧 | kuí wú | tall and sturdy |
| 夺魁 | duó kuí | to seize |
| 易洛魁 | yì luò kuí | Iroquois |
| 花魁 | huā kuí | the queen of flowers (refers esp. to plum blossom) |
| 党魁 | dǎng kuí | party boss |
| 罪魁 | zuì kuí | criminal ringleader |
| 魁北克市 | kuí běi kè shì | Quebec city, capital of Quebec province of Canada |
| 魁北克 | kuí běi kè | Quebec province, Canada |
| 祸首罪魁 | huò shǒu zuì kuí | see 罪魁禍首|罪魁祸首[zui4 kui2 huo4 shou3] |
| 魁首 | kuí shǒu | chief |
| 魁元 | kuí yuán | brightest and best |
| 魁星 | kuí xīng | stars of the Big Dipper that constitute the rectangular body of the dipper |
| 魁星阁 | kuí xīng gé | temple to Kuixing, Daoist God of fate |
| 临魁 | lín kuí | Linkui (c. 2000 BC), second of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] F... |
魁 appears in 18 compound words: 50 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 6 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 魁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
写好魁字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo kuí zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "魁" correctly, one must master the proper stroke order.
我们都不认为他是事故的罪魁祸首。
Wǒmen dōu bù rènwéi tā shì shìgù de zuìkuíhuòshǒu.
None of us thought he was to blame for the accident.
听起来好像他是这场灾难的罪魁祸首。
Tīngqilai hǎoxiàng tā shì zhè chǎng zāinàn de zuìkuíhuòshǒu.
It sounds as if he were to blame for the disaster.
自由魁北克万岁！
Zìyóu Kuíběikè wànsuì!
Long live free Quebec!
这前所未闻, 犯罪嫌疑人的律师竟然是真正的罪魁祸首。
Zhè qiánsuǒwèiwén, fànzuì xiányírén de lǜshī jìngrán shì zhēnzhèng de zuìkuíhuòshǒu.
It's totally without precedent for the suspect's attorney to be the true culprit.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 魁 (kuí) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 魁 have?
What is the radical of 魁?
What are the components of 魁?
What are common words containing 魁?
What characters sound the same as 魁 (kuí)?
Is 魁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 魁 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.