泥 (ní): mud, clay, paste
泥 (ní) is a Chinese character meaning “mud.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 尼 (phonetic). It ranks #1490 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 泥 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- mud
- clay
- paste
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 泥 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 泥
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 泥土noun | ní tǔ | earth |
| 泥巴noun | ní ba | (coll.) mud |
| 土豆泥noun | tǔ dòu ní | mashed potato |
| 泥浆noun | ní jiāng | slurry |
| 泥潭noun | ní tán | quagmire |
| 烂泥noun | làn ní | mud |
| 淤泥noun | yū ní | silt |
| 拘泥verb | jū nì | to be a stickler for formalities |
| 泥沼noun | ní zhǎo | swamp |
| 泥泞noun | ní nìng | muddy |
| 挡泥板 | dǎng ní bǎn | (car, bicycle etc) fender |
| 泥炭noun | ní tàn | peat |
| 泥石流noun | ní shí liú | landslide |
| 拖泥带水phrase | tuō ní dài shuǐ | (idiom) muddy and wet |
| 泥鳅noun | ní qiu | loach |
泥 appears in 100 compound words: 46 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 19 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 泥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
to do something in a long-drawn or slovenly manner; to be indecisive or beat about the bush
a goose's footprint in the snow; vestiges of the past (idiom); the fleeting nature of human life (idiom)
to do something in a long-drawn or slovenly manner; to be indecisive or beat about the bush
Example Sentences
清晨的泥面波光粼粼，倒映着岸边的柳树。
qīng chén de ní miàn bō guāng 粼 粼 , dǎo yìng zhe àn biān de liǔ shù .
The muddy surface glistened in the early morning light, reflecting the willow trees along the shore.
上峯水泥(000672.SZ)参股公司鑫华半导体...
shàng 峯 shuǐ ní ( 0 0 0 6 7 2 . S Z ) cān gǔ gōng sī 鑫 huá bàn dǎo tǐ . . .
Shangfeng Cement (000672.SZ) shares in Xinhua Semiconductor...
全国人大代表沈昌健:泥土里育“金种” 田埂上传“农声”
quán guó rén dà dài biǎo 沈 chāng jiàn : ní tǔ lǐ yù jīn zhǒng tián 埂 shàng chuán nóng shēng
National People's Congress deputy Shen Changjian: Cultivating "golden seeds" in the soil and uploading "agricultural voices" on the ridges
大埔Tesla猛撼泥头车“甩辘” 司机弃车不顾而去
dà 埔 T e s l a měng hàn ní tóu chē shuǎi 辘 sī jī qì chē bù gù ér qù
Tai Po Tesla shook the mud truck and "threw the wheel" The driver abandoned the car and left without hesitation
海螺水泥(00914)控股股东海螺集团将斥不高于...
hǎi luó shuǐ ní ( 0 0 9 1 4 ) kòng gǔ gǔ dōng hǎi luó jí tuán jiāng chì bù gāo yú . . .
Conch Cement (00914), the controlling shareholder of Conch Group, will be no higher than...
大埔颂雅路Tesla撞路旁泥头车 司机踪杳
dà 埔 sòng yǎ lù T e s l a zhuàng lù páng ní tóu chē sī jī zōng 杳
Tesla crashed into roadside mud truck on Songga Road in Tai Po The driver was missing
你能给我土豆泥吗？
Nǐ néng gěi wǒ tǔdòuní ma?
Could you pass me the mashed potato?
水泥会在数个小时内凝固。
Shuǐní huì zài shù gè xiǎoshí nèi nínggù.
The cement will set in a couple of hours.
他从头到脚都是泥巴。
Tā cóngtóudàojiǎo dōu shì níbā.
He was covered in mud from head to foot.
这辆车陷在泥里了。
Zhè liàng chē xiàn zài ní lǐ le.
The car got stuck in the mud.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 泥 (ní) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 泥 and 呢?
How many strokes does 泥 have?
What is the radical of 泥?
What are the components of 泥?
What are common words containing 泥?
What characters sound the same as 泥 (ní)?
Is 泥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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