狭 (xiá): narrow, narrow-minded

狭 (xiá) is a Chinese character meaning “narrow.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 犭 (semantic) and 夹 (phonetic). It ranks #1989 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 狭 dog. Its radical form 犭 (dog) appears in many related characters such as 狗 (gǒu, dog), 猫 (māo, cat), 状 (zhuàng, (bound form) form).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. narrow
  2. narrow-minded

Etymology & Origin

狭

pictophoneticdog

Decomposition: ⿰犭夹 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
狭窄adjectivexiá zhǎinarrow
狭小adjectivexiá xiǎonarrow
狭隘adjectivexiá ài(of a path etc) narrow
偏狭adjectivepiān xiáprejudiced
狭路相逢phrasexiá lù xiāng fénglit. to meet face to face on a narrow path (idiom)
狭长adjectivexiá chánglong and narrow
狭义nounxiá yìnarrow sense
狭义相对论nounxiá yì xiāng duì lùn(physics) special relativity
狭路xiá lùgorge
地狭人稠phrasedì xiá rén chóu(idiom) small and densely populated
心胸狭窄phrasexīn xiōng xiá zhǎi(idiom) narrow-minded
促狭鬼cù xiá guǐmischievous fellow
束狭shù xiánarrow (of waterway)
心胸狭隘xīn xiōng xiá àinarrow
狭谷xiá gǔglen
20
Total compounds
50
As first character
25
As last character
25
As middle character

狭 appears in 20 compound words: 50 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 狭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

窄zhǎi
0.7194,993 co-occurrences
隘ài
0.623762 co-occurrences
缝féng
0.555518 co-occurrences
义yì
0.5123,062 co-occurrences
桶tǒng
0.432150 co-occurrences
陡dǒu
0.42184 co-occurrences
峭qiào
0.41670 co-occurrences
长cháng
0.4142,492 co-occurrences
瓣bàn
0.40490 co-occurrences
弯wān
0.40390 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

地狭人稠dìxiárénchóuHSK 7+

small in area but densely populated

phrase
狭路相逢xiálùxiāngféngHSK 7+

to come into unavoidable confrontation

phrase
心胸狭窄xīnxiōngxiázhǎiHSK 7+

small-minded; intolerant; selfish; petty

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

狭字由9笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

xiá zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .

The character "narrow" consists of nine strokes, with a remarkably ingenious structure.

少数派Aug 2026

任务栏置顶、窄边距的控件、狭小的图标,还真要让我花不少精力来适应。

rèn wù lán zhì dǐng , zhǎi biān jù de kòng jiàn , xiá xiǎo de tú biāo , hái zhēn yāo ràng wǒ huā bù shǎo jīng lì lái shì yīng .

The taskbar always on top, controls with narrow borders, and tiny icons—it’s really taking me quite a while to get used to them.

IT之家Aug 2026

据介绍,其面向狭窄空间、应急救援及家庭服务等未来场景。

jù jiè shào , qí miàn xiàng xiá zhǎi kōng jiān , yīng jí jiù yuán jí jiā tíng fú wù děng wèi lái chǎng jǐng .

According to reports, it is designed for future applications such as use in confined spaces, emergency rescue, and home services.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

术中内镜显示,金条滞留于患儿胃腔,操作空间极为狭窄,稍有不慎便可能损伤消化道黏膜。

shù zhōng nèi jìng xiǎn shì , jīn tiáo zhì liú yú huàn ér wèi qiāng , cāo zuò kōng jiān jí wéi xiá zhǎi , shāo yǒu bù shèn biàn kě néng sǔn shāng xiāo huà dào nián mó .

Intraoperative endoscopy revealed that the gold bar was lodged in the child’s stomach, leaving extremely limited maneuvering space; even the slightest misstep could have resulted in damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa.

爱范儿Aug 2026

中间有一块狭长的纵向触控屏,从现有画面看,空调、音响等常用功能集中于此。

zhōng jiān yǒu yī kuài xiá cháng de zòng xiàng chù kòng bǐng , cóng xiàn yǒu huà miàn kàn , kōng diào , yīn xiǎng děng cháng yòng gōng néng jí zhōng yú cǐ .

In the center is a narrow, vertical touchscreen; based on the current display, commonly used functions such as the air conditioning and audio system are concentrated here.

EttodayApr 2026

中年男突头晕、黑蒙...就医发现颈动脉狭窄 医师提醒中风风险高

zhōng nián nán tū tóu yūn , hēi méng . . . jiù yī fā xiàn jǐng dòng mài xiá zhǎi yī shī tí xǐng zhōng fēng fēng xiǎn gāo

Middle-aged man suddenly experiences dizziness and blurred vision... Medical examination reveals carotid artery stenosis; doctor warns of high stroke risk

Tatoeba

这个角度会过于狭窄。

Zhège jiǎodù huì guòyú xiázhǎi.

The angle would be too narrow.

Tatoeba

他在一条狭窄的道路上走。

Tā zài yī tiáo xiázhǎi de dàolù shàng zǒu.

The man is hiking on a narrow path.

Tatoeba

别让狭隘的人让你相信你的梦想过于宏大。

Bié ràng xiá'ài de rén ràng nǐ xiāngxìn nǐ de mèngxiǎng guòyú hóngdà.

Don't let narrow-minded people convince you that your dreams are too big.

Tatoeba

「这么狭小的房间要三十元实在是太贵了。」他想。

「 zhème xiáxiǎo de fángjiān yào sānshí yuán shízài shì tài guì le.」 tā xiǎng.

"Thirty dollars is a lot for that small room," he thought.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 犭 (dog) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiá

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 狭 (xiá) mean in Chinese?
狭 (xiá) primarily means "narrow." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1989 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 狭 and 宽?
狭 (xiá) and 宽 (kuān) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 狭 (narrow) vs 宽 (wide).
How many strokes does 狭 have?
狭 is written with 9 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 狭?
The radical associated with 狭 is 犭 (dog). This radical appears in many characters related to dog.
What are the components of 狭?
狭 is composed of: 犭 (semantic), 夹 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰犭夹 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 狭?
Common words with 狭 include: 狭窄 (xiá zhǎi, "narrow"); 狭小 (xiá xiǎo, "narrow"); 狭隘 (xiá ài, "(of a path etc) narrow"); 偏狭 (piān xiá, "prejudiced"); 狭路相逢 (xiá lù xiāng féng, "lit. to meet face to face on a narrow path (idiom)"). There are over 20 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 狭 (xiá)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiá: 侠 (knight-errant), 下 (down), 夏 (the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC), 吓 (to scare), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 狭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 狭 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 狭 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.