惜 (xī): to cherish
惜 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “to cherish.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (structural) and 昔 (structural). It ranks #1502 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 惜 to feel 忄 for the past 昔; 昔 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- to cherish
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo feel 忄 for the past 昔; 昔 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰忄昔 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 惜 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 惜
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不惜 | bù xī | not stint |
| 惋惜 | wǎn xī | to regret |
| 爱惜 | ài xī | to cherish |
| 怜惜 | lián xī | to take pity on |
| 吝惜 | lìn xī | to stint |
| 痛惜 | tòng xī | to lament |
| 惜别 | xī bié | reluctant to part |
| 不惜一战 | bù xī yī zhàn | to be ready to go to war |
| 不惜血本 | bù xī xuè běn | to spare no effort |
| 食之无味，弃之可惜 | shí zhī wú wèi , qì zhī kě xī | lit. to be hardly worth eating, but it would still be a pity to discard it (idiom) |
| 体惜 | tǐ xī | to empathize |
| 惜才 | xī cái | to have an appreciation for talent in another person |
| 惜命 | xī mìng | to be mindful of one's health and safety |
| 敬惜字纸 | jìng xī zì zhǐ | to treasure written material as a cultural resource (idiom) |
| 惜福 | xī fú | to appreciate one's good fortune |
惜 appears in 29 compound words: 24 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 21 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 惜 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
我们要珍惜时间，因为时间一旦流逝就无法挽回。
Wǒmen yào zhēnxī shíjiān, yīnwèi shíjiān yídàn liúshì jiù wúfǎ wǎnhuí.
We must cherish time because once it passes, it cannot be recovered.
珍惜生命|秀茂坪顺利邨45岁妇堕楼 送院抢救...
zhēn xī shēng mìng xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 4 5 suì fù duò lóu sòng yuàn qiǎng jiù . . .
Cherish life|A 45-year-old woman fell from a building in Shunli Estate in Sau Mau Ping and was sent to the hospital for rescue...
珍惜生命|天水圍天晴邨28歲男墮樓 當場證實...
zhēn xī shēng mìng tiān shuǐ 圍 tiān qíng 邨 歲 nán 墮 樓 當 場 證 實 . . .
Cherish Life | 28-Year-Old Man Falls from Building in Tin Ching Estate, Tin Shui Wai, Confirmed Dead on the Spot...
...轉彎!曾勸行政院暫緩與美談判 施俊吉:可惜未獲採用
. . . 轉 彎 ! céng 勸 háng zhèng yuàn 暫 緩 與 měi 談 pàn shī jùn jí kě xī wèi 獲 採 yòng
...Take a turn! Shih Chun-chi, who had advised the Executive Yuan to postpone negotiations with the U.S., said: "It's regrettable that my advice was not adopted."
珍惜生命|秀茂坪順利邨45歲婦墮樓 昏迷送院...
zhēn xī shēng mìng xiù mào píng 順 lì 邨 歲 婦 墮 樓 hūn mí sòng yuàn . . .
Cherish life - A 45-year-old woman from Shun Lee Estate, Sau Mau Ping, fell from a building and was sent to hospital in a coma...
米兰冬奥|有爱人也有惺惺相惜的对手,王心迪与瑞士选..
mǐ lán dōng ào yǒu ài rén yě yǒu 惺 惺 xiāng xī de duì shǒu , wáng xīn dí yǔ ruì shì xuǎn . .
Milan Winter Olympics | Lovers and Rivals Who Respect Each Other: Wang Xindi and Swiss Skier...
可惜你不知道如何跳舞！
Kěxī nǐ bù zhīdào rúhé tiàowǔ!
What a pity you can't dance!
您昨晚没来真是太可惜了！
Nín zuówǎn méi lái zhēn shì tài kěxī le!
It's a pity you didn't come last night.
可惜大学食堂没有无花果饼干。
Kěxī dàxué shítáng méiyǒu wúhuāguǒ bǐnggān.
It's too bad the college dining hall doesn't have fig cookies.
你不能来参加派对，真是可惜。
Nǐ bù néng lái cānjiā pàiduì, zhēnshi kěxī.
It is a pity that you cannot come to the party.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 惜 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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