凄 (qī): intense cold, frigid, dismal
凄 (qī) is a Chinese character meaning “intense cold.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 冫 (semantic) and 妻 (phonetic). It ranks #2282 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 凄 ice. Its radical form 冫 (ice) appears in many related characters such as 冷 (lěng, cold), 净 (jìng, clean), 准 (zhǔn, to allow).
Definitions
- intense cold
- frigid
- dismal
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 凄 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 凄凉 | qī liáng | mournful |
| 凄惨 | qī cǎn | plaintive |
| 凄厉 | qī lì | mournful (sound) |
| 凄美 | qī měi | poignant |
| 凄苦 | qī kǔ | bleak |
| 凄清 | qī qīng | somber |
| 凄风苦雨 | qī fēng kǔ yǔ | lit. bleak wind and icy rain (idiom) |
| 凄然 | qī rán | distressed |
| 凄切 | qī qiè | mournful |
| 风雨凄凄 | fēng yǔ qī qī | wretched wind and rain |
| 凄楚 | qī chǔ | sad |
| 凄暗 | qī àn | dismal |
| 凄迷 | qī mí | pained and bewildered |
| 悲凄 | bēi qī | pitiable |
| 凄寒 | qī hán | cold and desolate |
凄 appears in 24 compound words: 92 as the first character, 4 as the last, and 4 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 凄 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
写好凄字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo qī zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "凄" correctly, one must master the proper stroke order.
...播“毁粉丝帐号” 当众把装备卖光遭炎上 凄惨下场曝
. . . bō huǐ fěn sī zhàng hào dāng zhòng bǎ zhuāng bèi mài guāng zāo yán shàng qī cǎn xià chǎng pù
半夜隔壁突传凄厉救命声!邻居吓疯探头看 破门惊见翁倒地...
bàn yè gé bì tū chuán qī lì jiù mìng shēng ! lín jū hè fēng tàn tóu kàn pò mén jīng jiàn wēng dǎo dì . . .
In the middle of the night, a piercing cry for help suddenly rang out from next door! Terrified, the neighbor peeked out and, upon breaking down the door, was shocked to find an elderly man lying on the floor...
伊朗战事重燃通膨威胁 全球政府债券市场凄风苦雨
yī lǎng zhàn shì chóng rán tōng péng wēi xié quán qiú zhèng fǔ zhài quàn shì chǎng qī fēng kǔ yǔ
The war in Iran reignites the threat of inflation, and the global government bond market is miserable
我感到凄清与孤独。
Wǒ gǎndào qīqīng yǔ gūdú.
I felt sad and lonely.
看着眼前凄凉的景象，我们不禁流下了泪来。
Kàn zhe yǎnqián qīliáng de jǐngxiàng, wǒmen bù jīn liú xià le lèi lái.
The pitiful sight moved us to tears.
Character Family
冫 Radical Family — Characters sharing the ice radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 凄 (qī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 凄 and 热?
How many strokes does 凄 have?
What is the radical of 凄?
What are the components of 凄?
What are common words containing 凄?
What characters sound the same as 凄 (qī)?
Is 凄 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 凄 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.