失 (shī): to lose, to miss, to fail
失 (shī) is a Chinese character meaning “to lose.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丿 (structural) and 夫 (structural). It ranks #375 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 失 something 丿 falling from a hand 夫. Its radical form 大 (big) appears in many related characters such as 大 (dà, big), 天 (tiān, day), 太 (tài, highest).
Definitions
- to lose
- to miss
- to fail
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSomething 丿 falling from a hand 夫
Decomposition: ⿻丿夫 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 失
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 失去verb | shī qù | to lose | 4 |
| 消失verb | xiāo shī | to disappear | 5 |
| 失望verb/adjective | shī wàng | disappointed | 4 |
| 失败verb/adjective | shī bài | to be defeated | 4 |
| 损失verb/noun | sǔn shī | loss | 5 |
| 失业verb | shī yè | unemployment | 5 |
| 丧失verb | sàng shī | to lose | 6 |
| 失误verb/noun | shī wù | lapse | 5 |
| 丢失verb | diū shī | to lose | 5 |
| 失眠verb | shī mián | to suffer from insomnia | 5 |
| 失恋verb | shī liàn | to lose one's love | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 失陪 | shī péi | Excuse me, I must be leaving now. |
| 失控 | shī kòng | to go out of control |
| 迷失 | mí shī | to lose (one's bearings) |
| 失常 | shī cháng | not normal |
| 失效 | shī xiào | to fail |
| 过失 | guò shī | error |
| 失落 | shī luò | to lose (sth) |
| 失血 | shī xuè | to lose blood |
| 失礼 | shī lǐ | to act discourteously |
| 失明 | shī míng | to lose one's eyesight |
| 失手 | shī shǒu | a slip |
| 失事 | shī shì | (of a plane, ship etc) to have an accident (plane crash, shipwreck, vehicle collision etc) |
| 失灵 | shī líng | out of order (of machine) |
| 失窃 | shī qiè | to lose by theft |
| 失调 | shī diào | out of tune (music) |
失 appears in 100 compound words: 78 as the first character, 22 as the last, and 0 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 失 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (30)
lit. success and failure, the gains and losses (idiom); fig. to weigh up various factors
to attend to one thing and lose sight of another; to be unable to take care of everything at once
to be mean; to be tight-fisted; to be overcautious; to tend to avoid risks
lit. success and failure, the gains and losses (idiom); fig. to weigh up various factors
to be mean; to be tight-fisted; to be overcautious; to tend to avoid risks
Showing 12 of 30 idioms containing 失.
Example Sentences
失败是成功之母，我们要从错误中吸取教训。
Shībài shì chénggōng zhī mǔ, wǒmen yào cóng cuòwù zhōng xīqǔ jiàoxun.
Failure is the mother of success; we must learn lessons from our mistakes.
每天喝咖啡和茶 失智风险最高降三成
měi tiān hē kā fēi hé chá shī zhì fēng xiǎn zuì gāo jiàng sān chéng
Drinking coffee and tea every day reduces the risk of dementia by up to 30%
900克黄金遗漏列车 女乘客失而复得
9 0 0 kè huáng jīn yí lòu liè chē nǚ chéng kè shī ér fù dé
900 grams of gold missing train Female passenger lost and recovered
10万元财物失而复得,长沙火车站春运暖心守护旅客行..
1 0 wàn yuán cái wù shī ér fù dé , cháng shā huǒ chē zhàn chūn yùn nuǎn xīn shǒu hù lǚ kè háng . .
100,000 yuan of property was lost and recovered, and Changsha Railway Station warmly guarded the passengers during the Spring Festival:
“新春走基层”为了不失联的信号
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng wéi le bù shī lián de xìn hào
"New Year to the grassroots" is a signal not to lose contact
逛游乐场与家人失散,5岁女童坠入路边深井大哭,男子..
guàng yóu lè chǎng yú jiā rén shī sàn , suì nǚ tóng zhuì rù lù biān shēn jǐng dà kū , nán zǐ . .
Separated from her family at a playground, the 5-year-old girl fell into a roadside well and cried, and the man...
失物招领处在哪儿？
Shīwùzhāolǐng chǔzài nǎr?
Where is the lost and found?
他失去了平衡，从梯子上摔了下来。
Tā shīqù le pínghéng, cóng tīzi shàng shuāi le xiàlai.
He lost his balance and fell off the ladder.
因为你不够努力，所以才会失败。
Yīnwèi nǐ bù gòu nǔlì, suǒyǐ cái huì shībài.
The reason why you failed is you didn't try hard enough.
他试图自杀，但是失败了。
Tā shìtú zìshā, dànshì shībài le.
He tried to kill himself but it ended in failure.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 失 (shī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 失 and 赢?
How many strokes does 失 have?
What is the radical of 失?
What are the components of 失?
What are common words containing 失?
What characters sound the same as 失 (shī)?
Is 失 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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