泣 (qì): to sob
泣 (qì) is a Chinese character meaning “to sob.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 立 (phonetic). It ranks #2368 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 泣 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
- to sob
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 泣 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 哭泣 | kū qì | to weep |
| 抽泣 | chōu qì | to sob spasmodically |
| 啜泣 | chuò qì | to sob |
| 可歌可泣 | kě gē kě qì | lit. you can sing or you can cry (idiom) |
| 泣不成声 | qì bù chéng shēng | (idiom) unable to speak through tears |
| 悲泣 | bēi qì | to weep with grief |
| 哀泣 | āi qì | to wail |
| 饮泣 | yǐn qì | (literary) to weep in silence |
| 如泣如诉 | rú qì rú sù | lit. as if weeping and complaining (idiom) |
| 涕泣 | tì qì | to weep |
| 如诉如泣 | rú sù rú qì | see 如泣如訴|如泣如诉[ru2 qi4 ru2 su4] |
| 喜极而泣 | xǐ jí ér qì | crying tears of joy (idiom) |
| 掩面而泣 | yǎn miàn ér qì | to bury one's head in one's hands and weep (idiom) |
| 牛衣对泣 | niú yī duì qì | couple living in destitute misery (idiom) |
| 向隅而泣 | xiàng yú ér qì | (idiom) to weep in solitude |
泣 appears in 17 compound words: 12 as the first character, 82 as the last, and 6 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 泣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
lit. as if weeping and complaining (idiom); fig. (of music, singing etc) mournful
lit. as if weeping and complaining (idiom); fig. (of music, singing etc) mournful
Example Sentences
泣不成声，泪如雨下。
Qì bù chéng shēng, lèi rú yǔ xià.
Sobbing uncontrollably, tears falling like rain.
动画剧集《鬼泣》第二季先导预告
dòng huà jù jí guǐ qì dì èr jì xiān dǎo yù gào
Teaser Trailer for Season 2 of the Anime Series "Devil May Cry"
欧联|云尼斯奥斯“哭泣”庆祝 反击曼城球迷去年耻笑失落金球奖
ōu lián yún ní sī ào sī kū qì qìng zhù fǎn jī 曼 chéng qiú mí qù nián chǐ xiào shī luò jīn qiú jiǎng
Europa League | Yunnis Ous "weeps" in celebration, striking back at Manchester City fans who mocked him last year for missing out on the Ballon d'Or
【女童盆舞节遭掳走案】女童紧张害怕哭泣 法庭审讯展延明出庭供证
nǚ tóng pén wǔ jié zāo 掳 zǒu àn nǚ tóng jǐn zhāng hài pà kū qì fǎ tíng shěn xùn zhǎn yán míng chū tíng gōng zhèng
The girl was nervous and afraid of crying, and Zhan Yanming testified in court during the trial
調查:近8成外傭被剝削 苦主被毆兼扣薪 泣訴待遇「畜生不如」
調 chá jìn chéng wài 傭 bèi 剝 xiāo kǔ zhǔ bèi 毆 jiān kòu xīn qì 訴 dài yù chù shēng bù rú
Survey: Nearly 80% of Foreign Domestic Helpers Face Exploitation Victims Report Being Beaten and Wages Withheld Weeping Complaints of Treatment "Worse Than Animals"
听到这件悲剧，他俩尽皆哭泣。
Tīngdào zhè jiàn bēijù, tā liǎ jìnjiē kūqì.
They both cried after hearing the tragic news.
汤姆，发生了什么？为啥哭泣呢？
Tāngmǔ, fāshēng le shénme? wèishá kūqì ne?
Tom, what happened? Why are you crying?
听到这个悲伤的消息，她泣不成声。
Tīngdào zhège bēishāng de xiāoxi, tā qì bù chéng shēng.
Hearing the sad news, she collapsed in tears.
他刚进房间，她就泣不成声了。
Tā gāng jìn fángjiān, tā jiù qì bù chéng shēng le.
Hardly had he entered the room, when she burst into tears.
不要像一个孩子一样哭泣了。
Bù yào xiàng yī gè háizi yīyàng kūqì le.
There's no need to cry like a child.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 泣 (qì) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 泣?
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What are common words containing 泣?
What characters sound the same as 泣 (qì)?
Is 泣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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