尸 (shī): (literary) person representing the deceased (during burial ceremonies), (literary) to put a corpse on display (after execution), (bound form) corpse
尸 (shī) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) person representing the deceased (during burial ceremonies).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丿 (structural). It ranks #1507 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 尸 a man keeled over. Its radical form 尸 (corpse) appears in many related characters such as 层 (céng, to pile on top of one another), 尽 (jǐn, to the greatest extent), 屋 (wū, (bound form) house).
Definitions
- (literary) person representing the deceased (during burial ceremonies)
- (literary) to put a corpse on display (after execution)
- (bound form) corpse
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA man keeled over
Stroke Order
Practice writing 尸 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 尸体 | shī tǐ | corpse |
| 验尸 | yàn shī | autopsy |
| 僵尸 | jiāng shī | gyonshi |
| 死尸 | sǐ shī | corpse |
| 尸骨 | shī gǔ | skeleton of the dead |
| 尸首 | shī shou | dead body |
| 尸身 | shī shēn | corpse |
| 尸骸 | shī hái | corpse |
| 马革裹尸 | mǎ gé guǒ shī | to be buried in a horse hide (idiom) |
| 行尸走肉 | xíng shī zǒu ròu | walking corpse (idiom) |
| 尸山血海 | shī shān xuè hǎi | lit. mountains of corpses and oceans of blood (idiom) |
| 停尸间 | tíng shī jiān | morgue |
| 分尸 | fēn shī | to dismember a corpse |
| 全尸 | quán shī | intact corpse |
| 活尸 | huó shī | zombie |
尸 appears in 56 compound words: 34 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 25 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 尸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to dismember a corpse into numerous small pieces; to cut up a corpse into many small pieces
to dismember a corpse into numerous small pieces; to cut up a corpse into many small pieces
Example Sentences
尸字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
shī zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The character for "corpse" is written in a very distinctive way, which left a deep impression on me.
悚!知名餐厅女员工陈尸冰柜 生前欠债、心情低落
悚 ! zhī míng cān tīng nǚ yuán gōng chén shī bīng guì shēng qián qiàn zhài , xīn qíng dī luò
Scary! Chen Shi Freezer, a female employee of a well-known restaurant, owed debts and was depressed during her lifetime
《使命召唤》官方辟谣,否认存在独立的僵尸模式游戏
shǐ mìng zhào huàn guān fāng pì yáo , fǒu rèn cún zài dú lì de jiāng shī mó shì yóu xì
"Call of Duty" officially refuted the rumors, denying the existence of a separate zombie mode game
港男陈尸五星饭店 房内留心酸字条死因曝
gǎng nán chén shī wǔ xīng fàn diàn fáng nèi liú xīn suān zì tiáo sǐ yīn pù
Hong Kong man Chen Shi five-star hotel pay attention to the sour note in the room The cause of death was exposed
一晚6千旅馆见蟑螂尸体 台南观旅局派员稽查
yī wǎn 6 qiān lǚ guǎn jiàn 蟑 螂 shī tǐ tái nán guàn lǚ jú pài yuán jī chá
6,000 hotels saw cockroach corpses in one night, and the Tainan Tourism Bureau sent personnel to inspect
落马洲7日5狗疑中毒亡 列虐畜跟进狗尸将化验
luò mǎ zhōu 7 rì 5 gǒu yí zhōng dú wáng liè nüè chù gēn jìn gǒu shī jiāng huà yàn
5 dogs suspected of poisoning and died in Lok Ma Chau on the 7th, and the dog corpse will be tested for animal cruelty
在僵尸启示录的事件中你会怎么做？
Zài jiāngshī Qǐshìlù de shìjiàn zhōng nǐ huì zěnme zuò?
What would you do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?
他已形同行尸走肉。
Tā yǐ xíngtóng xíngshīzǒuròu.
He is as good as dead.
这就是发现尸体的房间。
Zhè jiù shì fāxiàn shītǐ de fángjiān.
This is the room where the body was found.
汤姆在海边发现了具尸体。
Tāngmǔ zài hǎibiān fāxiàn le jù shītǐ.
Tom found a dead body on the beach.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 尸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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