仕 (shì): to serve as an official, an official

仕 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “to serve as an official.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 亻 (person). It ranks #3537 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 亻 person5 strokesFrequency #3537

Definitions

to serve as an official
an official

Stroke Order

Practice writing 仕 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
仕途	shì tú	official career (formal)
仕女	shì nǚ	court lady
学而优则仕	xué ér yōu zé shì	one who is successful in one's studies, can become an official (idiom)
安达仕	ān dá shì	Andaz (hotel brand)
爱马仕	ài mǎ shì	Hermès (brand)
出仕	chū shì	to take up an official post
卡仕达	kǎ shì dá	(loanword) custard
致仕	zhì shì	to retire from a government post (old)
仕宦	shì huàn	(literary) to serve as an official

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

仕 appears in 9 compound words: 33 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 11 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

她仕长得很美，心地也很善良。

tā shì cháng dé hěn měi , xīn dì yě hěn shàn liáng .

She is very beautiful and has a kind heart.

Nownews今日新聞Apr 2026

薛仕凌才刚被起诉!王子也卷闪兵案遭拘提前三...

Xuē shì líng cái gāng bèi qǐ sù ! wáng zǐ yě juǎn shǎn bīng àn zāo jū tí qián sān . . .

LtnMar 2026

自行到案却否认犯行金钟影帝薛仕凌逃兵还诓医师背书检求处2年半重刑

zì háng dào àn què fǒu rèn fàn háng jīn zhōng yǐng dì Xuē shì líng táo bīng hái 诓 yī shī bèi shū jiǎn qiú chǔ 2 nián bàn chóng xíng

It之家Mar 2026

...ANDISK Optimus:闪迪奥丁马仕系列 SSD 宣布 6 月在中国市场上市

. . . A N D I S K O p t i m u s : shǎn dí ào dīng mǎ shì xì liè S S D xuān bù 6 yuè zài zhōng guó shì chǎng shàng shì

Hk01.comMar 2026

Hermès是财富的象征?名媛爱马仕收藏大公开陈雪铃小房子太吸睛

H e r m e s shì cái fù de xiàng zhēng ? míng 媛 ài mǎ shì shōu zàng dà gōng kāi chén xuě líng xiǎo fáng zǐ tài xī jīng

Investing 香港Feb 2026

普徕仕:AI相关部署上维持审慎而具选择性的策略...

pǔ 徕 shì : A I xiāng guān bù shǔ shàng wéi chí shěn shèn ér jù xuǎn zé xìng de cè lüè . . .

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 仕 (shì) mean in Chinese?

仕 (shì) primarily means "to serve as an official." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3537 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 仕 have?

仕 is written with 5 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 仕?

The radical associated with 仕 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.

What are common words containing 仕?

Common words with 仕 include: 仕途 (shì tú, "official career (formal)"); 仕女 (shì nǚ, "court lady"); 学而优则仕 (xué ér yōu zé shì, "one who is successful in one's studies, can become an official (idiom)"); 安达仕 (ān dá shì, "Andaz (hotel brand)"); 爱马仕 (ài mǎ shì, "Hermès (brand)"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.

Is 仕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 仕 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 仕 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

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