势 (shì): power, influence, potential
势 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “power.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 执 (phonetic) and 力 (semantic). It ranks #506 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 势 strength. Its radical form 力 (power) appears in many related characters such as 动 (dòng, (of sth) to move), 力 (lì, power), 办 (bàn, to take care of (a matter)).
Definitions
- power
- influence
- potential
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 势 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 势
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 姿势noun | zī shì | posture | 5 |
| 优势noun | yōu shì | superiority | 5 |
| 形势noun | xíng shì | circumstances | 5 |
| 势力noun | shì li | power | 6 |
| 手势noun | shǒu shì | gesture | 6 |
| 趋势noun | qū shì | trend | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 局势noun | jú shì | situation |
| 强势noun | qiáng shì | strong |
| 虚张声势 | xū zhāng shēng shì | (idiom) to bluff |
| 伤势noun | shāng shì | condition of an injury |
| 权势noun | quán shì | power |
| 气势noun | qì shì | imposing manner |
| 火势noun | huǒ shì | intensity and spread of a fire |
| 劣势noun | liè shì | inferior |
| 装腔作势phrase | zhuāng qiāng zuò shì | posturing |
| 攻势noun | gōng shì | (military) offensive |
| 架势 | jià shi | attitude |
| 势利adjective | shì lì | snobbish |
| 势头noun | shì tóu | power |
| 情势noun | qíng shì | situation |
| 弱势noun | ruò shì | vulnerable |
势 appears in 100 compound words: 19 as the first character, 74 as the last, and 7 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 势 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (22)
a dog threatens based on master's power (idiom); to use one's position to bully others
Showing 12 of 22 idioms containing 势.
Example Sentences
势字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
shì zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "势" has different usages in different contexts.
加拿大航空因安全局势暂停墨西哥巴亚尔塔港营运
jiā ná dà háng kōng yīn ān quán jú shì zàn tíng mò xī gē bā yà ěr tǎ gǎng yíng yùn
Air Canada suspended operations in the port of Vallarta, Mexico due to the security situation
中方抨滥征税 势触新诉讼
zhōng fāng pēng làn zhēng shuì shì chù xīn sù sòng
China criticizes excessive taxation and is bound to lead to new lawsuits
葡萄牙房地产发展势头不减,但步伐有所改变
pú táo yá fáng dì chǎn fā zhǎn shì tóu bù jiǎn , dàn bù fá yǒu suǒ gǎi biàn
Portuguese real estate is gaining momentum, but the pace has changed
...关期间涨逾2%...台股金马年开红盘 蓄势冲关34K
. . . guān qī jiān zhǎng yú 2 . . . tái gǔ jīn mǎ nián kāi hóng pán xù shì chōng guān 3 4 K
... It rose more than 2% during the lockdown period... Taiwan stocks opened in the red market in the Year of the Golden Horse and are poised to break through 34K
世界人口有上升的趋势。
Shìjiè rénkǒu yǒu shàngshēng de qūshì.
The world's population tends to increase.
她充分利用她住在伦敦的优势，提高英语。
Tā chōngfèn lìyòng tā zhù zài Lúndūn de yōushì, tígāo Yīngyǔ.
She took full advantage of her stay in London to improve her English.
他们在黎明前控制住了火势。
Tāmen zài límíng qián kòngzhì zhù le huǒshì.
It was before dawn that they got the fire under control.
他试图扩大自己的势力范围。
Tā shìtú kuòdà zìjǐ de shìli fànwéi.
He tried to enlarge his sphere of influence.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 力 (strength) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 势 (shì) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 势 and 热?
How many strokes does 势 have?
What is the radical of 势?
What are the components of 势?
What are common words containing 势?
What characters sound the same as 势 (shì)?
Is 势 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 势 with real-time feedback
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