(tuí): to crumble, to collapse, to decline

(tuí) is a Chinese character meaning “to crumble.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #2744 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a bald 秃 head 页; 秃 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form (page) appears in many related characters such as (xié, head), (shùn, to obey), (, must).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to crumble
  2. to collapse
  3. to decline

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA bald 秃 head 页; 秃 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰秃页 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
tuí fèidecadent
tuí sàngdejected
tuí shìdecline (in fortune)
shān tuí mù huàilit. the mountains crumble and the trees lie ruined
tuí rándecrepit
tuí lǎoold and decrepit
tuí fèi pàidecadents (of the Decadent movement of late 19th century Europe)
tuí fàngdecadent
tuí yùncrumbling fate
tuí fēngdegenerate custom
duàn bì tuí yuánlit. walls reduced to rubble (idiom)
tuí yuán duàn bìlit. walls reduced to rubble (idiom)
tuí huàidilapidated
tuí bàito decay
tuí jǐngscene of dilapidation
23
Total compounds
83
As first character
9
As last character
9
As middle character

appears in 23 compound words: 83 as the first character, 9 as the last, and 9 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

fèi
0.5651,278 co-occurrences
shì
0.5251,038 co-occurrences
qīng
0.489300 co-occurrences
wǎn
0.482168 co-occurrences
shuāi
0.431210 co-occurrences
bài
0.412300 co-occurrences
niǔ
0.411102 co-occurrences
duò
0.40936 co-occurrences
sāng
0.407102 co-occurrences
hún
0.38530 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

shān tuí mù huàiHSK 7+

lit. the mountains crumble and the trees lie ruined; a great sage has died (idiom)

phrase
duàn bì tuí yuánHSK 7+

lit. walls reduced to rubble (idiom); fig. scene of devastation; ruins

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字的意思与它的部首有关。

zhè gě tuí zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .

The meaning of the character "颓" is related to its radical.

東方日報Mar 2026

东方日报C1:赵薇潜入戏院吸客 难挽票房

dōng fāng rì bào C 1 : zhào 薇 qián rù xì yuàn xī kè nán wǎn piào fáng tuí shì

StheadlineMar 2026

英超 | “车”残兵缺势又 拖肥主场硬净恶啃

yīng chāo chē cán bīng quē shì yòu tuí tuō féi zhǔ chǎng yìng jìng è kěn

Premier League | With Chelsea struggling and outnumbered, they were soundly beaten at home by Tottenham

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

废遇上永续 DIESEL 2026秋冬的...

dāng tuí fèi yù shàng yǒng xù D I E S E L 2 0 2 6 qiū dōng de . . .

When decadence meets sustainability DIESEL Fall/Winter 2026...

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced tuí

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 颓 (tuí) mean in Chinese?
颓 (tuí) primarily means "to crumble." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2744 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 颓 have?
颓 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 颓?
The radical associated with 颓 is 页 (page). This radical appears in many characters related to page.
What are the components of 颓?
颓 is composed of: 秃 (structural), 页 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰秃页 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 颓?
Common words with 颓 include: 颓废 (tuí fèi, "decadent"); 颓丧 (tuí sàng, "dejected"); 颓势 (tuí shì, "decline (in fortune)"); 山颓木坏 (shān tuí mù huài, "lit. the mountains crumble and the trees lie ruined"); 颓然 (tuí rán, "decrepit"). There are over 23 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 颓 (tuí)?
Several characters share the pronunciation tuí: 推 (to push), 腿 (leg), 退 (to retreat, to return). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 颓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 颓 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.