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 | dǎn qiè | timidity |
| 怯场 | qiè chǎng | to have stage fright |
| 怯懦 | qiè nuò | timid |
| 羞怯 | xiū qiè | shy |
| 怯弱 | qiè ruò | timid |
| 卑怯 | bēi qiè | mean and cowardly |
| 露怯 | lòu qiè | to display one's ignorance |
| 畏怯 | 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 | qiè zi | person with country accent |
| 怯生 | qiè shēng | shy |
| 怯声怯气 | qiè shēng qiè qì | to speak in a frightened voice that lacks courage (idiom) |
怯 appears in 17 compound words: 47 as the first character, 47 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.
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
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 怯 (qiè) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 怯 and 却?
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What characters sound the same as 怯 (qiè)?
Is 怯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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