怯 (qiè): timid, cowardly, rustic
怯 (qiè) is a Chinese character meaning “timid.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 去 (phonetic). It ranks #2404 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 怯 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- timid
- cowardly
- rustic
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 胆怯adjective | dǎn qiè | timidity |
| 怯场verb | qiè chǎng | to have stage fright |
| 怯懦adjective | qiè nuò | timid |
| 羞怯adjective | xiū qiè | shy |
| 怯弱adjective | qiè ruò | timid |
| 卑怯adjective | bēi qiè | mean and cowardly |
| 露怯verb | lòu qiè | to display one's ignorance |
| 畏怯verb | wèi qiè | timorous |
| 怯生生 | qiè shēng shēng | shy |
| 临死不怯 | lín sǐ bù qiè | equanimity in the face of death |
| 大勇若怯，大智若愚 | dà yǒng ruò qiè , dà zhì ruò yú | a great hero may appear timid, the wise may appear stupid (idiom) |
| 大勇若怯 | dà yǒng ruò qiè | a great hero may appear timid (idiom) |
| 怯子noun | qiè zi | person with country accent |
| 怯生verb | qiè shēng | shy |
| 怯意 | qiè yì | timidity |
怯 appears in 18 compound words: 50 as the first character, 44 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 怯 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
看到孩子的进步，父母怯中十分欣慰。
kàn dào hái zǐ de jìn bù , fù mǔ qiè zhōng shí fēn xīn wèi .
Seeing their child's progress, the parents felt deeply gratified.
原本怯于表达的他，如今已是图书馆的“领读者”，并带动自己的专业成绩明显提升。
yuán běn qiè yú biǎo dá de tā , rú jīn yǐ shì tú shū guǎn de lǐng dú zhě , bìng dài dòng zì jǐ de zhuān yè chéng jì míng xiǎn tí shēng .
Once hesitant to speak up, he is now a “reading leader” at the library, and this has led to a significant improvement in his academic performance.
从前内向寡言、怯于交流的他，逐渐敢于和队内老队员沟通交流。
cóng qián nèi xiàng guǎ yán , qiè yú jiāo liú de tā , zhú jiān gǎn yú hé duì nèi lǎo duì yuán gōu tōng jiāo liú .
Once an introverted and taciturn person who was hesitant to communicate, he has gradually gained the confidence to interact with the veteran players on the team.
她羞怯地看了一眼那个年轻人。
Tā xiūqiè de kàn le yīyǎn nàge niánqīngrén.
She glanced shyly at the young man.
羞怯的男孩呢喃地说出自己的名字。
Xiūqiè de nánhái nínán de shuōchū zìjǐ de míngzi.
The shy boy murmured his name.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 忄 (heart) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 怯 (qiè) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 怯 and 却?
How many strokes does 怯 have?
What is the radical of 怯?
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What are common words containing 怯?
What characters sound the same as 怯 (qiè)?
Is 怯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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