寐 (mèi): to sleep soundly

寐 (mèi) is a Chinese character meaning “to sleep soundly.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural), 爿 (structural) and 未 (structural). It ranks #3025 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 寐 a bed 爿 in a house 宀; 未 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 家 (jiā, home, family), 室 (shì, room), 客 (kè, guest, customer).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 宀 roof12 strokesFrequency #3025宀 structural 爿 structural 未 structural

Definitions

to sleep soundly

Etymology & Origin

寐

ideographicA bed 爿 in a house 宀; 未 provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿱宀⿰爿未 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:宀structural 爿structural 未structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 寐 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
梦寐以求phrase	mèng mèi yǐ qiú	(lit.) to yearn for sth even in one's dreams (idiom)
梦寐noun	mèng mèi	to dream
寤寐求之	wù mèi qiú zhī	(idiom) to long for sb or sth day and night
夙兴夜寐phrase	sù xīng yè mèi	to rise early and sleep late (idiom)
假寐verb	jiǎ mèi	to doze
寐龙	mèi lóng	Mei, dinosaur genus
寤寐noun	wù mèi	(literary) awake or asleep
魇寐	yǎn mèi	to have a nightmare

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

寐 appears in 8 compound words: 13 as the first character, 63 as the last, and 25 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 寐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

梦mèng

0.531248 co-occurrences

求qiú

0.496768 co-occurrences

寝qǐn

0.43020 co-occurrences

夜yè

0.422198 co-occurrences

耿gěng

0.40926 co-occurrences

猎liè

0.38124 co-occurrences

旦dàn

0.37638 co-occurrences

假jiǎ

0.36998 co-occurrences

以yǐ

0.366782 co-occurrences

矣yǐ

0.34314 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

梦寐以求mèngmèiyǐqiúHSK 7+

to desire strongly; to crave; to long for

phrase

夙兴夜寐sùxīngyèmèiHSK 7+

to work hard night and day; to burn the candle at both ends

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

寐字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。

mèi zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The way the character "寐" is written is quite unique, and it really left an impression on me.

少数派Aug 2026

然而，这种没有后顾之忧的轻盈和自信，是我一生梦寐以求却求而不得的东西。

rán ér , zhè zhǒng méi yǒu hòu gù zhī yōu de qīng yíng hé zì xìn , shì wǒ yī shēng mèng mèi yǐ qiú què qiú ér bù dé de dōng xī .

However, this sense of lightness and confidence—free from any worries—is something I have longed for all my life but have never been able to attain.

Character Family

宀 Radical Family — Characters sharing the roof radical

家jiā 定dìng 实shí 安ān 容róng 官guān 客kè 室shì 富fù 审shěn

Related Characters

家jiā 室shì 客kè 容róng 实shí 安ān 定dìng 官guān 审shěn 富fù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 寐 (mèi) mean in Chinese?

寐 (mèi) primarily means "to sleep soundly." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3025 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 寐 have?

寐 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 寐?

The radical associated with 寐 is 宀 (roof). This radical appears in many characters related to roof.

What are the components of 寐?

寐 is composed of: 宀 (structural), 爿 (structural), 未 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱宀⿰爿未 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 寐?

Common words with 寐 include: 梦寐以求 (mèng mèi yǐ qiú, "(lit.) to yearn for sth even in one's dreams (idiom)"); 梦寐 (mèng mèi, "to dream"); 寤寐求之 (wù mèi qiú zhī, "(idiom) to long for sb or sth day and night"); 夙兴夜寐 (sù xīng yè mèi, "to rise early and sleep late (idiom)"); 假寐 (jiǎ mèi, "to doze"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.

Is 寐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 寐 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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