奇 (qí): strange, odd, weird, wonderful, surprisingly, unusually
奇 (qí) is a Chinese character meaning “strange.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 大 (structural) and 可 (structural). It ranks #563 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 奇 a person 大 riding a horse 可. Its radical form 大 (big) appears in many related characters such as 大 (dà, big), 天 (tiān, day), 太 (tài, highest).
Definitions
- strange
- odd
- weird
- wonderful
- surprisingly
- unusually
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 大 riding a horse 可
Decomposition: ⿱大可 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 奇 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 奇
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 奇怪adjective | qí guài | strange | 3 |
| 奇迹noun | qí jì | variant of 奇蹟|奇迹[qi2 ji4] | 5 |
| 神奇adjective | shén qí | magical | 6 |
| 好奇adjective | hào qí | inquisitive | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 传奇 | chuán qí | legendary |
| 奇妙 | qí miào | wonderful |
| 惊奇 | jīng qí | to be amazed |
| 米奇 | mǐ qí | Mickey or Mitch (name) |
| 道奇 | dào qí | Dodge, US automobile brand, division of Chrysler LLC |
| 奇特 | qí tè | peculiar |
| 奇异 | qí yì | fantastic |
| 离奇 | lí qí | odd |
| 好奇心 | hào qí xīn | interest in sth |
| 出奇 | chū qí | extraordinary |
| 新奇 | xīn qí | novel |
| 曲奇 | qū qí | cookie (loanword via Cantonese 曲奇 kuk1 kei4) |
| 稀奇 | xī qí | rare |
| 奇才 | qí cái | genius |
| 不足为奇 | bù zú wéi qí | not at all surprising (idiom) |
奇 appears in 100 compound words: 54 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 12 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 奇 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (24)
to overturn empty convention, and display originality (idiom); new and different ideas
to overturn empty convention, and display originality (idiom); new and different ideas
Showing 12 of 24 idioms containing 奇.
Example Sentences
这个奇字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě jī zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "奇" had different meanings in classical Chinese.
战争传奇、奥运金牌、救难英雄、凶案受害者家属 美...
zhàn zhēng chuán qí , ào yùn jīn pái , jiù nán yīng xióng , xiōng àn shòu hài zhě jiā shǔ měi . . .
War legends, Olympic gold medals, rescue heroes, families of murder victims Beauty...
...冰!四川高速路铺“电热毯” 一键除冰超神奇
. . . bīng ! sì chuān gāo sù lù pù diàn rè tǎn yī jiàn chú bīng chāo shén qí
... Ice! Sichuan Expressway paving "electric blanket" one-click de-icing is super magical
江肇国批公务机关贴“马上有钱”春联很奇怪 今天有单位换掉了
jiāng zhào guó pī gōng wù jī guān tiē mǎ shàng yǒu qián chūn lián hěn qí guài jīn tiān yǒu dān wèi huàn diào le
Jiang Zhaoguo criticized the public agency for posting "money soon" Spring Festival couplets are very strange Today some units have been replaced
王赫奇:越来越多外国人来马过新年?
wáng hè qí : yuè lái yuè duō wài guó rén lái mǎ guò xīn nián ?
Wang Heqi: More and more foreigners are coming to Malaysia for the New Year?
新春走基层|网球传奇齐聚上海,精彩球技点燃新春佳节
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng wǎng qiú chuán qí qí jù shàng hǎi , jīng cǎi qiú jì diǎn rán xīn chūn jiā jié
Tennis legends gathered in Shanghai, and their wonderful skills ignited the Spring Festival
她那么匆匆忙忙的，你不觉得很奇怪吗？
Tā nàme cōngcōng máng máng de, nǐ bù juéde hěn qíguài ma?
Don't you think it odd that she was in such a hurry?
這是去帕克里奇的巴士？
Zhè shì qù pà kè lǐ qí de bāshì?
Is this the bus for Park Ridge?
麦克叫他的狗波奇吗？
Màikè jiào tā de gǒu bō qí ma?
Does Mike call his dog Pochi?
这是巧克力曲奇吗？
Zhè shì qiǎokèlì qǔqí ma?
Is this a chocolate chip cookie?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 奇 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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