稀 (xī): sparse, scattered, rare, uncommon, diluted, thin, watery
稀 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “sparse.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (semantic) and 希 (phonetic). It ranks #1771 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 稀 grain. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 科 (kē, branch of study), 租 (zū, to hire).
Definitions
- sparse
- scattered
- rare
- uncommon
- diluted
- thin
- watery
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 稀 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 稀有adjective | xī yǒu | uncommon |
| 稀奇adjective | xī qí | rare |
| 稀罕adjective | xī han | rare |
| 稀薄adjective | xī bó | thin |
| 稀奇古怪phrase | xī qí gǔ guài | (idiom) crazy |
| 稀少adjective | xī shǎo | sparse |
| 稀释verb | xī shì | to dilute |
| 稀客noun | xī kè | infrequent visitor |
| 依稀adjective | yī xī | vaguely |
| 稀烂adjective | xī làn | thoroughly mashed |
| 稀里糊涂 | xī li hú tu | muddleheaded |
| 稀松adjective | xī sōng | poor |
| 稀缺adjective | xī quē | scarce |
| 珍稀adjective | zhēn xī | rare |
| 稀疏adjective | xī shū | sparse |
稀 appears in 42 compound words: 67 as the first character, 24 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 稀 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
Showing 11 of 12 idioms containing 稀.
Example Sentences
稀字由12笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
xī zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "稀" consists of 12 strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
...| 金力永磁(06680)跌超9% 国内稀土价格整体呈现高位回落态势
. . . jīn lì yǒng cí ( 0 6 6 8 0 ) diē chāo 9 guó nèi xī tǔ jià gé zhěng tǐ chéng xiàn gāo wèi huí luò tài shì
...| Jinli Permanent Magnet (06680) fell more than 9%, and domestic rare earth prices as a whole showed a high decline
...一边做dna的准确率受体重影响吗?肥胖会稀释胎儿游离DNA吗
. . . yī biān zuò d n a de zhǔn què lǜ shòu tǐ chóng yǐng xiǎng ma ? féi pàng huì xī shì tāi ér yóu lí D N A ma
... Is the accuracy of DNA done on the other hand affected by weight? Does obesity dilute fetal free DNA?
港股异动 | 稀美资源(09936)涨超16% 供给冲击...
gǎng gǔ yì dòng xī měi zī yuán ( 0 9 9 3 6 ) zhǎng chāo 1 6 gōng gěi chōng jī . . .
Hong Kong stock changes | Ximei Resources (09936) rose more than 16% supply shock...
日本拆解废弃马达提炼稀土,冀摆脱依赖中国
rì běn chāi jiě fèi qì mǎ dá tí liàn xī tǔ , 冀 bǎi tuō yī lài zhōng guó
Japan dismantled abandoned motors to refine rare earths, hoping to get rid of dependence on China
因应稀土战欧洲推战略储备计画,法德义三国带头
yīn yīng xī tǔ zhàn ōu zhōu tuī zhàn lüè chǔ bèi jì huà , fǎ dé yì sān guó dài tóu
In response to the rare earth war, Europe promoted a strategic reserve plan, led by France, Germany and Italy
我们登得愈高，空气就愈稀薄。
Wǒmen dēng de yù gāo, kōngqì jiù yù xībó.
The higher we go up, the thinner the air becomes.
熊猫因为它们的稀有而成为了世界的宝藏。
Xióngmāo yīnwèi tāmen de xīyǒu ér chéngwéi le shìjiè de bǎozàng.
Because of their rarity, pandas have become a world treasure.
我依稀记得见过他。
Wǒ yīxī jìde jiàn guo tā.
I vaguely remember meeting him.
该国严禁进口稀有野生动物。
Gāi guó yánjìn jìnkǒu xīyǒu yěshēngdòngwù.
The importation of rare wild animals to this country is strictly prohibited.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 禾 (grain) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 稀 (xī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 稀 and 厚?
How many strokes does 稀 have?
What is the radical of 稀?
What are the components of 稀?
What are common words containing 稀?
What characters sound the same as 稀 (xī)?
Is 稀 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 稀 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.