誓 (shì): oath, vow, to swear
誓 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “oath.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 折 (structural) and 言 (structural). It ranks #2059 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 誓 words 言 that must not be broken 折; 折 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 讠 (speech) appears in many related characters such as 认 (rèn, to recognize, to admit), 记 (jì, to remember, to record), 识 (shí, to know, knowledge).
Definitions
- oath
- vow
- to swear
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWords 言 that must not be broken 折; 折 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿱折言 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 誓 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 发誓verb | fā shì | to vow |
| 誓言noun | shì yán | to pledge |
| 宣誓noun | xuān shì | to swear an oath (of office) |
| 起誓verb | qǐ shì | to vow |
| 誓词noun | shì cí | oath |
| 誓死verb | shì sǐ | to pledge one's life |
| 誓约noun | shì yuē | oath |
| 信誓旦旦phrase | xìn shì dàn dàn | to make a solemn vow |
| 盟誓verb | méng shì | oath of alliance |
| 誓师noun | shì shī | to vow before one's troops |
| 誓死不从 | shì sǐ bù cóng | to vow to die rather than obey (idiom) |
| 誓不两立phrase | shì bù liǎng lì | the two cannot exist together (idiom) |
| 誓死不降 | shì sǐ bù xiáng | to vow to fight to the death |
| 宣誓供词证明 | xuān shì gòng cí zhèng míng | (law) affidavit |
| 宣誓就职 | xuān shì jiù zhí | to swear the oath of office |
誓 appears in 27 compound words: 37 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 30 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 誓 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
誓传身教是最好的教育方式。
shì chuán shēn jiào shì zuì hǎo de jiào yù fāng shì .
Setting an example through one's own actions is the best form of education.
荷莫兹海峡未解决...川普誓言加强打击伊朗 日韩领跌亚股、油价大涨
hé mò zī hǎi xiá wèi jiě jué . . . chuān pǔ shì yán jiā qiáng dǎ jī yī lǎng rì hán lǐng diē yà gǔ , yóu jià dà zhǎng
The Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved... Trump vows to step up pressure on Iran; Japan and South Korea lead Asian stock losses, oil prices surge
12点34分宣誓就职!尼泊尔最年轻总理吉时上任 嘻哈歌手...
1 2 diǎn 3 4 fēn xuān shì jiù zhí ! ní bó ěr zuì nián qīng zǒng lǐ jí shí shàng rèn 嘻 hā gē shǒu . . .
Sworn in at 12:34 p.m.! Nepal's youngest prime minister takes office at an auspicious hour; hip-hop artist...
曼市状态欠佳 炮兵誓夺联赛杯踏出四冠王第一步
曼 shì zhuàng tài qiàn jiā pào bīng shì duó lián sài bēi tà chū sì guàn wáng dì yī bù
Manchester City Struggling; Arsenal Vows to Win the League Cup and Take the First Step Toward a Quadruple
全国人大常委会举行宪法宣誓仪式_光明网
quán guó rén dà cháng wěi huì jǔ háng xiàn fǎ xuān shì yí shì guāng míng wǎng
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress held a constitutional oath ceremony_Guangming.com
川普誓言对在贸易协议中“耍花样”的国家加征更高...
chuān pǔ shì yán duì zài mào yì xié yì zhōng shuǎ huā yàng de guó jiā jiā zhēng gēng gāo . . .
Trump vowed to impose higher taxes on countries that "play tricks" in trade deals...
骑士宣誓效忠于国王。
Qíshì xuānshì xiàozhōng yú guówáng.
The knight swore an oath of allegiance to the king.
我发誓再也不跟她说话了。
Wǒ fāshì zàiyě bù gēn tā shuōhuà le.
I vowed that I would never speak to her again.
孩子因糖果受骗, 大人因誓言上当。
Háizi yīn tángguǒ shòupiàn, dàren yīn shìyán shàngdàng.
Children are to be deceived with sweets and men with oaths.
我发誓我看到了外星人。
Wǒ fāshì wǒ kàn dào le wàixīngrén.
I swear, I saw an alien!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 誓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 誓 with real-time feedback
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