屎 (shǐ): feces, excrement, a stool
屎 (shǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “feces.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 尸 (structural) and 米 (structural). It ranks #3027 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 屎 a person, crouched 尸 defecating 米; 米 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 尸 (corpse) appears in many related characters such as 层 (céng, to pile on top of one another), 居 (jū, to reside), 展 (zhǎn, to spread out).
Definitions
- feces
- excrement
- a stool
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person, crouched 尸 defecating 米; 米 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿸尸米 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 屎 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 耳屎 | ěr shǐ | earwax |
| 眼屎 | yǎn shǐ | sleep (dried mucus in the corner of the eye) |
| 狗吃屎 | gǒu chī shǐ | to fall flat on one's face (vulgar) |
| 屎壳郎 | shǐ ké làng | see 屎蚵螂[shi3 ke1 lang2] |
| 吃屎都赶不上热乎的 | chī shǐ dōu gǎn bu shàng rè hu de | lit. if you were eating warm shit, it'd be stone cold by the time you finished it (saying) |
| 狗改不了吃屎 | gǒu gǎi bù liǎo chī shǐ | lit. a dog can't stop himself from eating shit (idiom) |
| 一把屎一把尿 | yī bǎ shǐ yī bǎ niào | to have endured all sorts of hardships (to raise one's children) (idiom) |
| 拉不出屎来怨茅房 | lā bù chū shǐ lái yuàn máo fáng | lit. to blame the toilet because one is having difficulty completing a bowel movement (idiom) |
| 鸟不生蛋，狗不拉屎 | niǎo bù shēng dàn , gǒu bù lā shǐ | lit. (a place where) birds don't lay eggs and dogs don't defecate (idiom) |
| 鸟不拉屎，鸡不生蛋 | niǎo bù lā shǐ , jī bù shēng dàn | lit. (a place where) birds don't defecate and hens don't lay eggs (idiom) |
| 一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤 | yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng | lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom) |
| 一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅粥 | yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu | see 一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥|一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥[yi1 li4 lao3 shu3 shi3 huai4 le5 yi1 guo1 zhou1] |
| 一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥 | yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu | lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom) |
| 石屎森林 | shí shǐ sēn lín | (dialect) concrete jungle |
| 占着茅坑不拉屎 | zhàn zhe máo kēng bù lā shǐ | lit. to occupy a latrine but not shit (proverb) |
屎 appears in 33 compound words: 9 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 45 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 屎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
老师教我们屎字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men shǐ zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character for "shit."
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 屎 (shǐ) mean in Chinese?
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What are the components of 屎?
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Is 屎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 屎 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.