贤 (xián): worthy or virtuous person, honorific used for a person of the same or a younger generation

贤 (xián) is a Chinese character meaning “worthy or virtuous person.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural) and 贝 (semantic). It ranks #1918 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 贤 money. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, expensive), 负 (fù, to bear), 责 (zé, responsibility).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. worthy or virtuous person
  2. honorific used for a person of the same or a younger generation

Etymology & Origin

贤

pictophoneticmoney

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
圣贤nounshèng xiána sage
贤惠adjectivexián huìvariant of 賢慧|贤慧
贤人nounxián réngreat person of the past
贤明adjectivexián míngwise and capable
贤良adjectivexián liáng(of a man) able and virtuous
贤内助nounxián nèi zhù(said of sb else's wife) a good wife
招贤纳士phrasezhāo xián nà shìinvite the talented and call the valorous (idiom)
贤淑adjectivexián shū(of a woman) virtuous
任人唯贤verbrèn rén wéi xiánto appoint people according to their merits (idiom)
贤才nounxián cáia genius
贤士nounxián shìvirtuous person
嫉贤妒能jí xián dù néng(idiom) to envy the virtuous and talented
贤慧adjectivexián huì(of a wife) wise and kind
贤者时间nounxián zhě shí jiān(slang) post-nut clarity moment
任贤使能rèn xián shǐ néngto appoint the virtuous and use the able (idiom)
52
Total compounds
37
As first character
27
As last character
37
As middle character

贤 appears in 52 compound words: 37 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 37 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 贤 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

奉fèng
0.4851,663 co-occurrences
祀sì
0.4711,082 co-occurrences
乡xiāng
0.4552,108 co-occurrences
陈chén
0.4251,528 co-occurrences
忠zhōng
0.4191,260 co-occurrences
饶ráo
0.418238 co-occurrences
魏wèi
0.390796 co-occurrences
派pài
0.38516 co-occurrences
宴yàn
0.384292 co-occurrences
齐qí
0.380548 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (17)

妒能害贤dù néng hài xiánHSK 7+

jealous of the able, envious of the clever (idiom)

phrase
妒贤嫉能dù xián jí néngHSK 7+

see 嫉賢妒能|嫉贤妒能

phrase
嫉贤妒能jí xián dù néngHSK 7+

(idiom) to envy the virtuous and talented

phrase
见贤思齐jiànxiánsīqíHSK 7+

to see a virtuous person and think of following their example

phrase
敬老尊贤jìng lǎo zūn xiánHSK 7+

to respect the wise and venerate the worthy (idiom); to honor the great and the good

phrase
敬贤礼士jìngxiánlǐshìHSK 7+

to respect people of talent and ability (said of a superior)

phrase
礼贤下士lǐxiánxiàshìHSK 7+

to treat people of talent and virtue with courtesy and respect

phrase
普贤菩萨Pǔxián PúsàHSK 7+

Samantabhadra bodhisattva

求贤若渴qiú xián ruò kěHSK 7+

(idiom) to eagerly seek talented people

phrase
任人唯贤rènrénwéixiánHSK 7+

to appoint people based on merit; meritocracy

verbnoun
任贤使能rèn xián shǐ néngHSK 7+

to appoint the virtuous and use the able (idiom); appointment on the basis of ability and integrity

phrase
识才尊贤shí cái zūn xiánHSK 7+

to recognize talent and have great respect for it

phrase

Showing 12 of 17 idioms containing 贤.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

贤字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。

xián zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

The character "贤" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.

三立新聞網Feb 2026

刘美贤冬奥花滑夺金 父亲拒中国金钱招揽

liú měi xián dōng ào huā huá duó jīn fù qīn jù zhōng guó jīn qián zhāo lǎn

Liu Meixian won gold in figure skating at the Winter Olympics, and her father refused China's money solicitation

工商時報Feb 2026

下一个会更好?连贤明:好的协议比好的时机更重要

xià yī gè huì gēng hǎo ? lián xián míng : hǎo de xié yì bǐ hǎo de shí jī gēng chóng yāo

Will the next one be better? Lian Xianming: A good agreement is more important than a good timing

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

竹县团拜 陈见贤、徐欣莹零互动

zhú xiàn tuán bài chén jiàn xián , xú xīn yíng líng hù dòng

Zhuxian group worship Chen Jianxian and Xu Xinying have zero interaction

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

美关税新变局 中经院院长连贤明:重谈台美协定是下策

měi guān shuì xīn biàn jú zhōng jīng yuàn yuàn cháng lián xián míng : chóng tán tái měi xié dìng shì xià cè

New changes in US tariffs Lian Xianxian, president of the China Economic Institute: Revisiting the Taiwan-US agreement is the last policy

百度新闻Feb 2026

柴火灶里烧出的“团聚”,藏着最浓的奉贤年味丨有一种..

chái huǒ zào lǐ shāo chū de tuán jù , zàng zhe zuì nóng de fèng xián nián wèi 丨 yǒu yī zhǒng . .

The "reunion" burned in the wood stove hides the strongest Fengxian New Year's flavor丨There is a kind:

Tatoeba

良禽择木而栖,贤臣择主而事。

Liángqínzémù'érqī, xián chén zé zhǔ ér shì.

A prudent bird chooses its tree. A wise servant chooses his master.

Tatoeba

这些书是贤治的吗?

Zhèxiē shū shì xián zhì de ma?

Are these books Kenji's?

Tatoeba

贤治的英语说得很流利。

Xián zhì de Yīngyǔ shuō dehěn liúlì.

Kenji is a good speaker of English.

Tatoeba

历览前贤国与家,成由勤俭破由奢。

Lì lǎn qián xián guó yǔ jiā, chéng yóu qínjiǎn pò yóu shē.

Looking back at the former wise rulers and nations, their success was achieved through diligence and frugality, while their downfall was caused by extravagance and luxury.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 贝 (money) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xián

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 贤 (xián) mean in Chinese?
贤 (xián) primarily means "worthy or virtuous person." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1918 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 贤 have?
贤 is written with 8 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 贤?
The radical associated with 贤 is 贝 (shell). This radical appears in many characters related to shell.
What are the components of 贤?
贤 is composed of: 又 (structural), 贝 (semantic). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 贤?
Common words with 贤 include: 圣贤 (shèng xián, "a sage"); 贤惠 (xián huì, "variant of 賢慧|贤慧"); 贤人 (xián rén, "great person of the past"); 贤明 (xián míng, "wise and capable"); 贤良 (xián liáng, "(of a man) able and virtuous"). There are over 52 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 贤 (xián)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xián: 现 (to appear), 先 (beforehand), 线 (line, thread), 显 (to make visible), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 贤 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 贤 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 贤 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.