面 (miàn): face, side, surface
面 (miàn) is a Chinese character meaning “face.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 面 (face). It ranks #74 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 面 a person's face. Its radical form 面 (face) appears in many related characters.
Definitions
- face
- side
- surface
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA person's face
Stroke Order
Practice writing 面 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 面
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 里面noun | lǐ miàn | variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] | 2 |
| 外面noun | wài miàn | outside (also pr. [wai4 mian5] for this sense) | 2 |
| 上面noun | shàng miàn | on top of | 2 |
| 后面noun | hòu mian | the back | 2 |
| 下面noun | xià miàn | below | 2 |
| 见面verb | jiàn miàn | to meet | 3 |
| 面前noun | miàn qián | in front of | 3 |
| 方面noun | fāng miàn | respect | 4 |
| 面对verb | miàn duì | to face | 4 |
| 前面noun | qián miàn | ahead | 2 |
| 面条儿noun | miàn tiáo r | erhua variant of 麵條|面条[mian4 tiao2] | 1 |
| 面包noun | miàn bāo | bread | 1 |
| 面试verb | miàn shì | to be interviewed (as a candidate) | 4 |
| 面临verb | miàn lín | to face sth | 5 |
| 表面noun | biǎo miàn | surface | 5 |
| 对面noun | duì miàn | (sitting) opposite | 4 |
| 地面noun | dì miàn | floor | 5 |
| 画面noun | huà miàn | scene | 5 |
| 局面noun | jú miàn | aspect | 6 |
| 全面adjective | quán miàn | all-around | 5 |
| 场面noun | chǎng miàn | scene | 6 |
| 面子noun | miàn zi | outer surface | 6 |
| 正面noun/adjective | zhèng miàn | front | 6 |
| 面部noun | miàn bù | face (body part) | 6 |
| 当面adverb | dāng miàn | to sb's face | 6 |
| 书面adjective | shū miàn | in writing | 6 |
| 水面noun | shuǐ miàn | water surface | 6 |
| 负面adjective | fù miàn | negative | 6 |
| 层面noun | céng miàn | aspect | 6 |
| 面向verb | miàn xiàng | to face | 5 |
| 面积noun | miàn jī | area (of a floor, piece of land etc) | 5 |
| 面粉noun | miàn fěn | flour | 6 |
| 海面noun | hǎi miàn | the surface of the sea | 6 |
| 路面noun | lù miàn | road surface | 6 |
| 方便面noun | fāng biàn miàn | instant noodles | 3 |
| 方方面面noun | fāng fāng miàn miàn | all sides | 6 |
| 片面adjective | piàn miàn | unilateral | 6 |
面 appears in 100 compound words: 19 as the first character, 80 as the last, and 1 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 面 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (32)
focus solely on form or appearance without emphasis on content or effectiveness; ostentatiousness
Showing 12 of 32 idioms containing 面.
Example Sentences
面字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
miàn zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The way the character "面" is written is quite unique and has left a deep impression on me.
龙七公:“万亿大市”挑大梁支撑基本面
lóng qī gōng : wàn yì dà shì tiāo dà liáng zhī chēng jī běn miàn
Long Qigong: "Trillion big city" takes the lead to support fundamentals
...意”犹未尽:米兰冬奥会上中国军团的“名场面”
. . . yì yóu wèi jǐn : mǐ lán dōng ào huì shàng zhōng guó jūn tuán de míng chǎng miàn
... The meaning is not over: the "famous scene" of the Chinese legion at the Milan Winter Olympics
...千帐户攻击高市早苗 矢板明夫:台日两国正面对相同挑战
. . . qiān zhàng hù gōng jī gāo shì zǎo miáo shǐ bǎn míng fū : tái rì liǎng guó zhèng miàn duì xiāng tóng tiāo zhàn
... Thousands of accounts attack Sanae Takaichi Akio Yaita: Taiwan and Japan are facing the same challenges
排山倒海 扑面而来!六百只宋代瓷碗在这叠成墙
pái shān dǎo hǎi pū miàn ér lái ! liù bǎi zhī sòng dài cí wǎn zài zhè dié chéng qiáng
Overwhelming and coming! Six hundred Song Dynasty porcelain bowls are stacked on this wall
洗面奶什么牌子好?聚焦公认好用的洗面奶年终榜...
xǐ miàn nǎi shén má pái zǐ hǎo ? jù jiāo gōng rèn hǎo yòng de xǐ miàn nǎi nián zhōng bǎng . . .
What brand of facial cleanser is good? Focus on the year-end list of facial cleansers that are recognized as easy to use...
我们面前的这幢高楼是什么？
Wǒmen miànqián de zhè zhuàng gāolóu shì shénme?
What is that big building in front of us?
你午饭想吃面包吗？
Nǐ wǔfàn xiǎng chī miànbāo ma?
Would you like some bread for lunch?
这里小区的绿地面积有多少？
Zhèlǐ xiǎoqū de lǜdì miànjī yǒu duōshao?
What is the size of this district's greenery area?
你认为可以胜任那些方面个工作？
Nǐ rènwéi kěyǐ shèngrèn nàxiē fāngmiàn gè gōngzuò?
Do you think that you are qualified for that aspect of the work?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 面 (miàn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 面 have?
What is the radical of 面?
What are common words containing 面?
What characters sound the same as 面 (miàn)?
Is 面 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 面 with real-time feedback
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