危 (wēi): danger, to endanger
危 (wēi) is a Chinese character meaning “danger.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 厃 (structural) and 㔾 (structural). It ranks #826 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 危 a person 㔾 at the edge of a cliff 厃; 厃 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 卩 (seal) appears in many related characters such as 印 (yìn, to print), 卫 (wèi, vassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1066–221 BC), located in present-day Henan and Hebei Provinces), 即 (jí, namely).
Definitions
- danger
- to endanger
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 㔾 at the edge of a cliff 厃; 厃 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿱厃㔾 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 危 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 危
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 危急adjective | wēi jí | critical |
| 危及verb | wēi jí | to endanger |
| 安危noun | ān wēi | safety and danger |
| 危在旦夕phrase | wēi zài dàn xī | in imminent peril (idiom) |
| 岌岌可危phrase | jí jí kě wēi | imminent danger (idiom) |
| 危地马拉proper-noun | wēi dì mǎ lā | Guatemala |
| 垂危verb | chuí wēi | close to death |
| 危难noun | wēi nàn | calamity |
| 濒危verb | bīn wēi | endangered (species) |
| 危机四伏phrase | wēi jī sì fú | danger lurks on every side (idiom) |
| 病危verb | bìng wēi | to be critically ill |
| 高危adjective | gāo wēi | high-risk |
| 危言耸听phrase | wēi yán sǒng tīng | frightening words to scare people (idiom) |
| 危险品noun | wēi xiǎn pǐn | hazardous materials |
| 危机感noun | wēi jī gǎn | sense of crisis |
危 appears in 75 compound words: 49 as the first character, 25 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 危 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (22)
critical juncture; the brink of destruction; a danger which puts one in dire straits
Showing 12 of 22 idioms containing 危.
Example Sentences
学习危字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí wēi zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering the character "危" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.
孕期喝了酒对宝宝有没有影响?红酒比白酒危害小吗
yùn qī hē le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? hóng jiǔ bǐ bái jiǔ wēi hài xiǎo ma
Does drinking alcohol during pregnancy affect the baby? Is red wine less harmful than white wine?
...喝了酒对宝宝有没有影响?孕早期不知情饮酒危险吗
. . . hē le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? yùn zǎo qī bù zhī qíng yǐn jiǔ wēi xiǎn ma
... Does drinking alcohol affect the baby? Is it dangerous to drink alcohol without knowing it in the first trimester?
民主党批特朗普搁置对华禁令 危及美国安全
mín zhǔ dǎng pī tè lǎng pǔ gē zhì duì huá jīn lìng wēi jí měi guó ān quán
Democrats criticized Trump for shelving the ban on China, endangering US security
AI引发的反乌托邦就业危机:Nvidia的又一个催化剂?
A I yǐn fā de fǎn wū tuō bāng jiù yè wēi jī : N v i d i a de yòu yī gè cuī huà jì ?
AI-Induced Dystopian Jobs Crisis: Another Catalyst for Nvidia?
脂肪肝不是胖人专利 三类高危族群与改善关键
zhī fáng gān bù shì pàng rén zhuān lì sān lèi gāo wēi zú qún yǔ gǎi shàn guān jiàn
Fatty liver is not the patent of fat people, three types of high-risk groups and the key to improvement
年轻人骑摩托车可能会很危险。
Niánqīngrén qí mótuōchē kěnéng huì hěn wēixiǎn.
It can be dangerous for young people to ride motorcycles.
非方矩阵的逆阵是一个危险的东西。
Fēi fāng jǔzhèn de nì zhèn shì yī gè wēixiǎn de dōngxi.
The inverse of a non-square matrix is a dangerous thing.
超速驾驶是很危险的。
Chāosù jiàshǐ shì hěn wēixiǎn de.
Driving too fast is dangerous.
最危险的猎物是无路可走的那种。
Zuì wēixiǎn de lièwù shì wúlùkězǒu de nàzhǒng.
Cornered prey is the most dangerous kind.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 危 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 危 with real-time feedback
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