塑 (sù): to model (a figure) in clay, (bound form) plastic (i.e. the synthetic material)
塑 (sù) is a Chinese character meaning “to model (a figure) in clay.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 朔 (phonetic) and 土 (semantic). It ranks #2007 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 塑 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).
Definitions
- to model (a figure) in clay
- (bound form) plastic (i.e. the synthetic material)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 塑 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 塑
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 雕塑verb | diāo sù | a statue |
| 塑料袋noun | sù liào dài | plastic bag |
| 塑胶noun | sù jiāo | synthetic resin |
| 重塑verb | chóng sù | to reconstruct (an art object) |
| 塑像verb | sù xiàng | to sculpt or mold a statue (by shaping a pliable material such as clay, plaster or wax, which may later be cast in me... |
| 泡沫塑料noun | pào mò sù liào | styrofoam |
| 可塑性noun | kě sù xìng | plasticity |
| 塑性noun | sù xìng | plasticity |
| 泥塑noun | ní sù | clay modeling |
| 塑料普通话noun | sù liào pǔ tōng huà | (coll.) bad or awkward Mandarin (spoken with heavy accent, incorrect tones or other non-standard features) |
| 毛塑像 | máo sù xiàng | statue of Chairman Mao Zedong (1893-1976) 毛澤東|毛泽东 |
| 塑料姐妹花noun | sù liào jiě mèi huā | (neologism, 2017) (slang) a pair of women whose seemingly close friendship is actually shallow, insincere and subtly ... |
| 过塑verb | guò sù | (stationery) to laminate |
| 塑料王 | sù liào wáng | "king of plastics" (nickname for polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE) |
| 面塑 | miàn sù | (figurines) made of dough |
塑 appears in 32 compound words: 63 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 13 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 塑 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
这座古塑已经有两千多年的历史了。
zhè zuò gǔ sù yǐ jīng yǒu liǎng qiān duō nián de lì shǐ le .
This ancient sculpture has a history of over two thousand years.
宝理塑料推出采用消费后回收材料的新型PLAST...
bǎo lǐ sù liào tuī chū cǎi yòng xiāo fèi hòu huí shōu cái liào de xīn xíng P L A S T . . .
Polyplastics launches new PLAST...
来论—逆风重塑国际金融中心——从预算案看香港新一轮“金...
lái lùn — nì fēng chóng sù guó jì jīn róng zhōng xīn — — cóng yù suàn àn kàn xiāng gǎng xīn yī lún jīn . . .
Coming to the discussion - reshaping the international financial center against the wind - looking at Hong Kong's new round of "gold...
AI重塑市场规则 信任成为品牌竞争核心资产
A I chóng sù shì chǎng guī zé xìn rèn chéng wéi pǐn pái jìng zhēng hé xīn zī chǎn
AI reshapes market rules Trust has become the core asset of brand competition
2026年香寺庙会:改变管理思维,塑造国家级庙会形象
2 0 2 6 nián xiāng sì miào huì : gǎi biàn guǎn lǐ sī wéi , sù zào guó jiā jí miào huì xíng xiàng
2026 Incense Temple Fair: Change management thinking and shape the image of the national temple fair
爱玩车/Polestar电动之姿 重塑瑞典旅行车
ài wán chē P o l e s t a r diàn dòng zhī zī chóng sù ruì diǎn lǚ háng chē
The electric posture of the Polestar car reinvents the Swedish station wagon
我拒绝使用塑料袋。
Wǒ jùjué shǐyòng sùliàodài.
I refuse to use plastic bags.
塑料代替了许多传统的原料。
Sùliào dàitì le xǔduō chuántǒng de yuánliào.
Plastics have taken the place of many conventional materials.
塑料盘子在烤箱里会化的。
Sùliào pánzi zài kǎoxiāng lǐ huì huà de.
A plastic dish will melt on the stove.
汤姆把黏土塑成了一个花瓶。
Tāngmǔ bǎ niántǔ sù chéngle yī gè huāpíng.
Tom worked the clay into a vase.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 土 (earth) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 塑 (sù) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 塑 have?
What is the radical of 塑?
What are the components of 塑?
What are common words containing 塑?
What characters sound the same as 塑 (sù)?
Is 塑 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 塑 with real-time feedback
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