灵 (líng): quick, alert, efficacious
灵 (líng) is a Chinese character meaning “quick.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彐 (phonetic) and 火 (semantic). It ranks #734 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 灵 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- quick
- alert
- efficacious
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 灵 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 灵
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 灵魂noun | líng hún | soul |
| 灵感noun | líng gǎn | creative inspiration |
| 精灵noun | jīng líng | spirit |
| 幽灵noun | yōu líng | specter |
| 神灵noun | shén líng | god |
| 圣灵noun | shèng líng | Holy Ghost |
| 机灵 | jī ling | alert |
| 失灵verb | shī líng | out of order (of machine) |
| 灵敏adjective | líng mǐn | smart |
| 灵光noun | líng guāng | divine light (around the Buddha) |
| 亡灵noun | wáng líng | spirit of the dead |
| 百灵noun | bǎi líng | lark (bird of family Alaudidae) |
| 生灵noun | shēng líng | (literary) the people |
| 机灵鬼noun | jī líng guǐ | (jocular) clever and quick-witted person |
| 守灵verb | shǒu líng | to keep watch beside a coffin |
灵 appears in 100 compound words: 55 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 9 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 灵 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
living spirit, living image (idiom); true to life; vivid and realistic
the greatness of a person lends glory to a place; a place derives reflected glory from an illustrious son
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 灵.
Example Sentences
这个方法很灵验，试过的都说好。
Zhè gè fāngfǎ hěn língyàn, shì guo de dōu shuō hǎo.
This method is very effective; everyone who has tried it says it's good.
“涨价”策略失灵叠加“黑天鹅”事件,雀巢忙“瘦身”自救
zhǎng jià cè lüè shī líng dié jiā hēi tiān é shì jiàn , qiāo cháo máng shòu shēn zì jiù
The failure of the "price increase" strategy superimposed on the "black swan" incident, Nestlé was busy "slimming" to save itself
寻马记|能看到86匹灵动骏马的北齐壁画博物馆
xún mǎ jì néng kàn dào 8 6 pǐ líng dòng jùn mǎ de běi qí bì huà bó wù guǎn
The Northern Qi Mural Museum where you can see 86 smart horses
...荐读|“马上”体祝福里的民生期盼;AI“灵魂附..
. . . jiàn dòu mǎ shàng tǐ zhù fú lǐ de mín shēng qī pàn ; A I líng hún fù . .
... Recommended reading|" Immediately, "feel the expectations of people's livelihood in the blessing; AI's "soul attachment:
甘肃公交建集团彭大、灵华高速以坚守护平安 以陪伴庆..
gān sù gōng jiāo jiàn jí tuán 彭 dà líng huá gāo sù yǐ jiān shǒu hù píng ān yǐ péi bàn qìng . .
Gansu Public Transportation Construction Group Pengda, Linghua Expressway to protect the peace with the companion to celebrate the...
iPhone 17e预计今日发布,灵动岛设计、搭载..
yù jì jīn rì fā bù , líng dòng dǎo shè jì dā zài . .
iPhone 17e is expected to be released today, with an agile island design, powered by...
灵魂赋予肉体生命。
Línghún fùyǔ ròutǐ shēngmìng.
The soul animates the body.
你认为动物有灵魂吗？
Nǐ rènwéi dòngwù yǒu línghún ma?
Do you think animals have souls?
约翰甘迺迪被安葬在阿灵顿公墓。
Yuēhàn Gānnǎidí bèi ānzàng zài ā líng dùn gōngmù.
J.F. Kennedy was buried in Arlington Cemetery.
天灵灵，地灵灵；急急如律令！
Tiān líng líng, de líng líng; jí jí rú lǜ lìng!
Spirits of Heaven and Earth, heed my call; manifest swiftly by divine decree!
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 火 (fire) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 灵 (líng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 灵 and 雪?
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What are common words containing 灵?
What characters sound the same as 灵 (líng)?
Is 灵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 灵 with real-time feedback
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