心 (xīn): heart, mind

心 (xīn) is a Chinese character meaning “heart, mind.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 心 (heart). It ranks #90 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically pictographic, 心 a heart. Its radical form 心 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忘 (wàng, to forget), 想 (xiǎng, to think, to want), 爱 (ài, to love).

Spoken pronunciation
HSK 3Radical: 心 heart4 strokesFrequency #90

Definitions

  1. heart, mind

Etymology & Origin

心

pictographicA heart

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 心

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
担心verbdān xīnanxious3
小心verb/adjectivexiǎo xīnto be careful3
开心adjectivekāi xīnto feel happy3
关心verbguān xīnto be concerned about3
中心nounzhōng xīncenter5
恶心adjective/verbě xīnvariant of 惡心|恶心6
心理nounxīn lǐpsychology5
心脏nounxīn zàngheart6
心里nounxīn lichest3
伤心adjectiveshāng xīnto grieve4
心情nounxīn qíngmood4
内心nounnèi xīnheart4
放心verbfàng xīnto feel relieved3
信心nounxìn xīnconfidence4
耐心adjective/nounnài xīnto be patient4
心灵nounxīn língbright6
专心adjectivezhuān xīnto focus one's attention5
决心noun/verbjué xīndetermination5
点心noundiǎn xinlight refreshments5
核心nounhé xīncore6
精心adjectivejīng xīnwith utmost care6
用心adjectiveyòng xīnmotive6
心爱adjectivexīn àibeloved6
心底nounxīn dǐbottom of one's heart6
爱心nounài xīncompassion4
热心adjectiverè xīnenthusiastic5
心目nounxīn mùmind6
背心nounbèi xīnsleeveless garment (vest, waistcoat, singlet, tank top etc)6
身心nounshēn xīnbody and mind6
心愿nounxīn yuàncherished desire6
重心nounzhòng xīnfocus6
心态nounxīn tàiattitude (of the heart)5
细心adjectivexì xīnmeticulous4
灰心adjectivehuī xīnto lose heart6
粗心adjectivecū xīncareless4
心疼verbxīn téngto love dearly6
虚心adjectivexū xīnopen-minded5
155
Total compounds
35
As first character
54
As last character
12
As middle character

心 appears in 155 compound words: 35 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 12 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 心 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

中zhōng
0.613705,440 co-occurrences
核hé
0.572100,656 co-occurrences
脏zāng
0.49511,230 co-occurrences
竭jié
0.4644,742 co-occurrences
理lǐ
0.43587,338 co-occurrences
狠hěn
0.4211,880 co-occurrences
勃bó
0.4105,190 co-occurrences
研yán
0.40341,400 co-occurrences
耿gěng
0.3982,444 co-occurrences
甜tián
0.3984,464 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (197)

包藏祸心bāocáng-huòxīnHSK 5+

to harbor evil intentions; to conceal malice

phrase
别出心裁biéchūxīncáiHSK 5+

to try to be different; to be out of the ordinary

phrase
别具匠心biéjùjiàngxīnHSK 7+

to show great ingenuity; to have originality

phrase
财迷心窍cáimíxīnqiàoHSK 7+

mad about money; greedy to such an extent that one's rationality is obstructed

phrase
称心如意chènxīnrúyìHSK 5+

satisfactory; to one's heart's content

phrase
诚心诚意chéngxīnchéngyìHSK 4+

earnestly and sincerely

adverb
诚心所愿chéngxīnsuǒyuànHSK 4+

amen; so be it (at the end of religious prayers)

adverb
诚心正意chéng xīn zhèng yìHSK 4+

see 誠心誠意|诚心诚意

phrase
痴心妄想chīxīnwàngxiǎngHSK 7+

to obsessively fantasize about something that cannot come true

phrase
赤胆忠心chìdǎnzhōngxīnHSK 7+

utter devotion

phrase
赤子之心chìzǐzhīxīnHSK 7+

a pure heart

phrase
处心积虑chǔxīnjīlǜHSK 4+

to conspire for a long time

phrase

Showing 12 of 197 idioms containing 心.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

心脏是人体最重要的器官之一,需要好好保护。

Xīnzàng shì réntǐ zuì zhòngyào de qìguān zhī yī, xūyào hǎohao bǎohù.

The heart is one of the most important organs in the human body and needs to be well protected.

百度新闻Feb 2026

肥城:外卖小哥的“暖心守护”升级了

féi chéng wài mài xiǎo gē de nuǎn xīn shǒu hù shēng jí le

Feicheng: takeaway brother's "warm heart guardian" upgraded

百度新闻Feb 2026

这届年轻人的消费,要花在“心窝”里

zhè jiè nián qīng rén de xiāo fèi , yāo huā zài xīn wō lǐ

This generation of young people will spend in their hearts.

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春纳福迎新,就来凯德虹口商业中心,福气好物一站式..

xīn chūn nà fú yíng xīn , jiù lái kǎi dé hóng kǒu shāng yè zhōng xīn , fú qì hǎo wù yī zhàn shì . .

Come to CapitaLand Hongkou Commercial Center for a one-stop shop for good fortune and good fortune....

百度新闻Feb 2026

春节假期拍了拍你,出门揣一份“安心”更踏实

chūn jié jiǎ qī pāi le pāi nǐ , chū mén chuāi yī fèn ān xīn gēng tà shí

Spring Festival vacation pat you, go out and put a "peace of mind" more solid

百度新闻Feb 2026

春节祭英烈 初心永不忘 华北军区烈士陵园开展“春节..

chūn jié zhài yīng liè chū xīn yǒng bù wàng huá běi jūn ōu liè shì líng yuán kāi zhǎn chūn jié . .

Honoring Martyrs During Spring Festival: Never Forget Our Original Aspiration Martyrs' Cemetery of North China Military Region Launches "Spring Festival..."

Tatoeba

吃点点心你看好吗?

Chī diǎn diǎnxīn nǐ kàn hǎo ma?

Let's eat some dessert, alright?

Tatoeba

你圣诞过得开心吗?

Nǐ Shèngdàn guòdé kāixīn ma?

Did you have a nice Christmas?

Tatoeba

比如说,我要到市中心,有什么车子可以坐吗?

Bǐrú shuō, wǒ yào dào shìzhōngxīn, yǒu shénme chēzi kěyǐ zuò ma?

For example, if I want to get downtown what bus should I take?

Tatoeba

什么让他改变了心意?

Shénme ràng tā gǎibiàn le xīnyì?

What made him change his mind?

Character Family

心 Radical Family — Characters sharing the heart radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced xīn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 心 (xīn) mean in Chinese?
心 (xīn) primarily means "heart, mind." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #90 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 心 have?
心 is written with 4 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 心?
The radical associated with 心 is 心 (heart). This radical appears in many characters related to heart.
What are common words containing 心?
Common words with 心 include: 担心 (dān xīn, "anxious"); 小心 (xiǎo xīn, "to be careful"); 开心 (kāi xīn, "to feel happy"); 关心 (guān xīn, "to be concerned about"); 中心 (zhōng xīn, "center"). There are over 155 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 心 (xīn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xīn: 信 (believe, letter), 新 (new), 辛 ((of taste) hot or pungent), 欣 (happy), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 心 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 心 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 心 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.