辣 (là): hot (spicy), pungent, (of chili pepper, raw onions etc) to sting
辣 (là) is a Chinese character meaning “hot (spicy).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辛 (semantic) and 束 (phonetic). It ranks #2342 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 辣 bitter. Its radical form 辛 (bitter) appears in many related characters such as 辩 (biàn, to dispute), 辛 (xīn, (of taste) hot or pungent), 辞 (cí, to resign).
Definitions
- hot (spicy)
- pungent
- (of chili pepper, raw onions etc) to sting
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 辣 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 辣
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 辣椒noun | là jiāo | hot pepper | 6 |
| 酸甜苦辣phrase | suān tián kǔ là | (lit.) sour, sweet, bitter and spicy (idiom) | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辣椒酱noun | là jiāo jiàng | red pepper paste |
| 火辣辣adjective | huǒ là là | scorching hot |
| 心狠手辣phrase | xīn hěn shǒu là | (idiom) vicious |
| 辛辣adjective | xīn là | spicy hot (taste) |
| 泼辣adjective | pō la | shrewish |
| 毒辣adjective | dú là | cruel |
| 麻辣adjective | má là | hot and numbing |
| 热辣辣adjective | rè là là | burning hot |
| 辣酱油noun | là jiàng yóu | Worcestershire sauce |
| 阴险毒辣 | yīn xiǎn dú là | treacherous and murderous |
| 老辣adjective | lǎo là | shrewd and ruthless |
| 酸辣汤noun | suān là tāng | hot and sour soup |
| 麻辣烫noun | má là tàng | malatang (a Sichuan-style spicy soup dish) |
| 姜还是老的辣proverb | jiāng hái shì lǎo de là | ginger gets spicier as it gets older (idiom) |
| 心毒手辣 | xīn dú shǒu là | vicious and ruthless |
辣 appears in 58 compound words: 33 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 21 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 辣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
lit. to eat delicious food and drink hard liquor (idiom); fig. to live well
sour, sweet, bitter and spicy; all kinds of flavours; the joys and sorrows of life; the sweets and bitters of life
Example Sentences
这个辣字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě là zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "辣" had different meanings in classical Chinese.
挺过“勾二嫂”风波!ØZI东区约会辣模女友 私下真实互动全被拍
tǐng guò gōu èr sǎo fēng bō ! Z I dōng qū yuē huì là mó nǚ yǒu sī xià zhēn shí hù dòng quán bèi pāi
Survived the "hook second sister-in-law" turmoil! ØZI East District dating hot model girlfriend private real interactions were all filmed
蔡瑞雪清纯校花形象大崩坏?橙发低胸辣照疯传 网:差点认不出来
蔡 ruì xuě qīng chún jiào huā xíng xiàng dà bēng huài ? chéng fā dī xiōng là zhào fēng chuán wǎng : chā diǎn rèn bù chū lái
Cai Ruixue's image of a pure school flower collapsed? Orange-haired low-cut spicy photos went viral on the Internet: I almost couldn't recognize it
麦当劳2.23起推全新人气着数套餐 脆辣鸡腿饱餐首次加入 黄泽林首拍“老麦”广告...
mài dāng láo 2 . 2 3 qǐ tuī quán xīn rén qì zhe shǔ tào cān cuì là jī tuǐ bǎo cān shǒu cì jiā rù huáng zé lín shǒu pāi lǎo mài guǎng gào . . .
McDonald's launched a new popular set meal from 2.23 Crispy and spicy chicken leg meal added for the first time Huang Zelin's first shot of "Lao Mai" advertisement...
麦当劳全新人气着数套餐优惠!脆辣鸡腿饱餐减$10 麦乐鸡/麦炸鸡/猪柳蛋...
mài dāng láo quán xīn rén qì zhe shǔ tào cān yōu huì ! cuì là jī tuǐ bǎo cān jiǎn 1 0 mài lè jī mài zhà jī zhū liǔ dàn . . .
McDonald's new popular set meal discount! Crispy and spicy chicken thighs $10 off McNuggets / McNuggets / Pork fillet and eggs...
泫雅发辣照反击怀孕传言 浑圆测乳包不住
泫 yǎ fā là zhào fǎn jī huái yùn chuán yán hún yuán cè rǔ bāo bù zhù
HyunA posted a spicy photo to counter pregnancy rumors, and the round breast test could not be contained
玛丽的包里有辣椒喷雾。
Mǎlì de bāo lǐ yǒu làjiāo pēnwù.
Mary carries pepper spray in her purse.
韩国菜以辛辣闻名。
Hánguó cài yǐ xīnlà wénmíng.
Korean food is noted for its spicy flavor.
我不习惯辛辣的食物。
Wǒ bù xíguàn xīnlà de shíwù.
I'm not used to spicy food.
韩国菜一般都很辣。
Hánguó cài yībān dōu hěn là.
Korean food is generally very spicy.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辛 (bitter) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 辣 (là) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 辣 and 寒?
How many strokes does 辣 have?
What is the radical of 辣?
What are the components of 辣?
What are common words containing 辣?
What characters sound the same as 辣 (là)?
Is 辣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 辣 with real-time feedback
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