戏 (xì): trick, drama, play, show, ,場|场,臺|台
戏 (xì) is a Chinese character meaning “trick.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural) and 戈 (structural). It ranks #1032 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 戏 a hand 又 doing tricks with a spear 戈. Its radical form 戈 (halberd) appears in many related characters such as 我 (wǒ, I), 成 (chéng, to succeed), 或 (huò, maybe).
Definitions
- trick
- drama
- play
- show
- ,場|场,臺|台
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand 又 doing tricks with a spear 戈
Decomposition: ⿰又戈 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 戏 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 戏
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 演戏verb | yǎn xì | to put on a play |
| 马戏团noun | mǎ xì tuán | circus |
| 把戏noun | bǎ xì | acrobatics |
| 没戏adjective | méi xì | (coll.) not a chance |
| 戏剧性adjective | xì jù xìng | dramatic |
| 游戏机noun | yóu xì jī | video game machine |
| 戏院noun | xì yuàn | theater |
| 戏弄verb | xì nòng | to play tricks on |
| 电子游戏noun | diàn zǐ yóu xì | computer and video games |
| 调戏verb | tiáo xì | to take liberties with a woman |
| 戏法noun | xì fǎ | magic trick |
| 儿戏noun | ér xì | child's play |
| 嬉戏verb | xī xì | to frolic |
| 马戏noun | mǎ xì | circus |
| 拍戏verb | pāi xì | to shoot a movie |
戏 appears in 100 compound words: 25 as the first character, 65 as the last, and 10 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 戏 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
lit. find a stage, put on a comedy (idiom); to join in the fun; to play along according to local conditions
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 戏.
Example Sentences
这出戏演得很精彩，观众掌声不断。
Zhè chū xì yǎn de hěn jīngcǎi, guānzhòng zhǎngshēng bùduàn.
This play was performed wonderfully, with continuous applause from the audience.
...无糖食品要注意什么?警惕“无蔗糖”文字游戏吗
. . . wú táng shí pǐn yāo zhù yì shén má ? jǐng tì wú 蔗 táng wén zì yóu xì ma
... What should I look out for in sugar-free food? Beware of "sucrose-free" word games
(新春走基层)山西新绛:七星坡上坐满看戏人
( xīn chūn zǒu jī céng ) shān xī xīn 绛 : qī xīng pō shàng zuò mǎn kàn xì rén
(New Year at the grassroots level) Shanxi Xinjiang: The Qixing Slope is full of theatergoers
...立 NGO 组织 转型长期倡议平台推动游戏保护立法
. . . lì N G O zǔ zhī zhuǎn xíng cháng qī chàng yì píng tái tuī dòng yóu xì bǎo hù lì fǎ
... Establish the NGO Transformation Long-Term Initiative Platform to promote game protection legislation
南阳一马戏团女演员高空表演不慎坠落,目击者称其坚持...
nán yáng yī mǎ xì tuán nǚ yǎn yuán gāo kōng biǎo yǎn bù shèn zhuì luò , mù jī zhě chèn qí jiān chí . . .
Nanyang, a circus performer accidentally fell from a high altitude performance, witnesses said it insisted...
与沈腾马丽一起“搭戏”的机器人,还藏着这样的技术突..
yú 沈 téng mǎ lí yī qǐ dā xì de jī qì rén , hái zàng zhe zhè yàng de jì shù tū . .
With Shen Teng Ma Li with the "play" robot, but also hides such a technologi...
游戏开始变得有趣。
Yóuxì kāishǐ biànde yǒuqù.
The game is becoming more engaging.
南希喜欢室内游戏。
Nánxī xǐhuan shìnèi yóuxì.
Nancy enjoys indoor games.
戏法人人会变，各有巧妙不同。
Xìfǎ rénrén huì biàn, gè yǒu qiǎomiào bù tóng.
Everyone's tricks are different; each differs in ingenious ways.
孩子们在尘土里游戏。
Háizimen zài chéntǔ lǐ yóuxì.
The children were playing in the dirt.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 戏 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 戏 with real-time feedback
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