穷 (qióng): poor
穷 (qióng) is a Chinese character meaning “poor.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 穴 (structural) and 力 (structural). It ranks #1335 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- poor
Stroke Order
Practice writing 穷 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 穷人noun | qióng rén | poor people |
| 贫穷adjective | pín qióng | poor |
| 无穷verb | wú qióng | endless |
| 穷困adjective | qióng kùn | destitute |
| 穷光蛋noun | qióng guāng dàn | poor wretch |
| 穷追不舍phrase | qióng zhuī bù shě | to pursue relentlessly |
| 无穷无尽phrase | wú qióng wú jìn | (idiom) endless |
| 穷苦adjective | qióng kǔ | impoverished |
| 穷鬼noun | qióng guǐ | (vulgar) impoverished person |
| 穷凶极恶phrase | qióng xiōng jí è | fiendish |
| 黔驴技穷phrase | qián lǘ jì qióng | to exhaust one's limited abilities (idiom) |
| 穷尽noun | qióng jìn | to use up |
| 层出不穷phrase | céng chū bù qióng | more and more emerge |
| 穷酸adjective | qióng suān | (of a scholar) impoverished, shabby and pedantic |
| 无穷大 | wú qióng dà | (math.) infinity |
穷 appears in 86 compound words: 49 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 19 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 穷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (32)
leaving a rich aftertaste; (figuratively) memorable, lingering in memory
to be unable to put forth any convincing arguments to justify one's opinion; to not have a leg to stand on
it is a great joy to (do something); to find it an infinite delight (to do something)
poor but ambitious (idiom); hard-pressed but determined; the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back
leaving a rich aftertaste; (figuratively) memorable, lingering in memory
it is a great joy to (do something); to find it an infinite delight (to do something)
poor but ambitious (idiom); hard-pressed but determined; the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back
Showing 12 of 32 idioms containing 穷.
Example Sentences
虽然家里很穷，但他通过努力考上了大学。
Suīrán jiā lǐ hěn qióng, dàn tā tōngguò nǔlì kǎo shàng le dàxué.
Although his family was very poor, he got into university through hard work.
30岁港男亮身家呻穷想搵快钱拍拖 网民劝检讨开支 自爆月入万...
suì gǎng nán liàng shēn jiā shēn qióng xiǎng 搵 kuài qián pāi tuō wǎng mín quàn jiǎn tǎo kāi zhī zì bào yuè rù wàn . . .
A 30-year-old Hong Kong man showed his net worth and moaned about being poor and wanted to find quick money to date, netizens advised him to review his expenses and self-destruct to earn 10,000 yuan a month...
今天公生别铁齿!做这“8件事”恐穷整年
jīn tiān gōng shēng bié tiě chǐ ! zuò zhè jiàn shì kǒng qióng zhěng nián
Today, you are born with iron teeth! Doing these "8 things" is afraid of poverty for a whole year
...皇大帝生日8大禁忌 尤其别做一事否则恐“穷足一年”
. . . huáng dà dì shēng rì dà jīn jì yóu qí bié zuò yī shì fǒu zé kǒng qióng zú yī nián
... 8 taboos on the emperor's birthday, especially don't do anything, otherwise you may be "poor for a year"
公立国中只剩穷人与8+9?私校门槛曝光 两派网友掀论战
gōng lì guó zhōng zhī shèng qióng rén yǔ ? sī jiào mén jiàn pù guāng liǎng pài wǎng yǒu xiān lùn zhàn
Only the poor and 8+9 are left in public junior high schools? The threshold of private schools was exposed, and the two factions of netizens started a debate
比特币还能买?《富爸爸.穷爸爸》作者逆风加码 两大进场原因曝光
bǐ tè bì hái néng mǎi ? fù bà bà . qióng bà bà zuò zhě nì fēng jiā mǎ liǎng dà jìn chǎng yuán yīn pù guāng
Bitcoin Still Worth Buying? 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' Author Buys More Amid Market Downturn—Two Key Reasons Revealed
黑麦被称为贫穷的谷物。
Hēimài bèi chēngwéi pínqióng de gǔwù.
Rye was called the grain of poverty.
他不因贫穷而感到羞愧。
Tā bù yīn pínqióng ér gǎndào xiūkuì.
He is not ashamed of being poor.
他年轻的时候穷困潦倒。
Tā niánqīng de shíhou qióngkùn liǎodǎo.
He was terribly poor when he was young.
玛丽不穷，相反，她相当富裕。
Mǎlì bù qióng, xiāngfǎn, tā xiāngdāng fùyù.
Mary is not poor. On the contrary, she is quite rich.
Character Family
穴 Radical Family — Characters sharing the cave radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the radical of 穷?
What are the components of 穷?
What are common words containing 穷?
Is 穷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 穷 with real-time feedback
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