腥 (xīng): fishy (smell)

腥 (xīng) is a Chinese character meaning “fishy (smell).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺼ (semantic) and 星 (phonetic). It ranks #2600 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 腥 meat. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 肉 meat15 strokesFrequency #2600⺼ semantic 星 phonetic

Definitions

fishy (smell)

Etymology & Origin

腥

pictophoneticmeat

Decomposition: ⿰⺼星 (layout: left-right)

Components:⺼semantic 星phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 腥 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
血腥	xuè xīng	reeking of blood
腥臭	xīng chòu	fishy and smelly
腥风血雨	xīng fēng xuè yǔ	lit. foul wind and bloody rain (idiom)
鱼腥草	yú xīng cǎo	chameleon plant
土腥	tǔ xīng	(of a taste or smell) earthy
偷腥	tōu xīng	to cheat on one's spouse
血腥玛丽	xuè xīng mǎ lì	Bloody Mary
臊腥	sāo xīng	stench
荤腥	hūn xīng	meat and fish

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

腥 appears in 9 compound words: 22 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 22 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 腥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

血xiě

0.69521,966 co-occurrences

荤hūn

0.555114 co-occurrences

臊sāo

0.48136 co-occurrences

味wèi

0.4801,956 co-occurrences

臭chòu

0.468390 co-occurrences

屠tú

0.440600 co-occurrences

疙gē

0.43742 co-occurrences

暴bào

0.4351,812 co-occurrences

压yā

0.415918 co-occurrences

沾zhān

0.404108 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

腥风血雨xīngfēngxuèyǔHSK 7+

brutal bloodshed or carnage

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

腥字由15笔画组成，结构很巧妙。

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

The character "腥" consists of 15 strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.

NewtalkApr 2026

伊朗年初血腥镇压滥杀平民!川普:美国之后曾向抗议者送...

yī lǎng nián chū xiě xīng zhèn yā làn shā píng mín ! chuān pǔ : měi guó zhī hòu céng xiàng kàng yì zhě sòng . . .

SmzdmApr 2026

春天的菜你吃对了吗?之五鱼腥草

chūn tiān de cài nǐ chī duì le ma ? zhī wǔ yú xīng cǎo

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

林依晨揭17年前脑瘤手术内幕醒来满嘴血腥味:我离死亡这么近

lín yī chén jiē 1 7 nián qián nǎo liú shǒu shù nèi mù xǐng lái mǎn zuǐ xiě xīng wèi : wǒ lí sǐ wáng zhè má jìn

Ariana Lin Reveals Details of Her Brain Tumor Surgery 17 Years Ago: "I Woke Up with the Taste of Blood in My Mouth—I Was So Close to Death"

Tatoeba

因为他认为美剧镜头很血腥，所以他不喜欢看美剧。

Yīnwèi tā rènwéi Měijù jìngtóu hěn xuèxīng, suǒyǐ tā bù xǐhuan kàn Měijù.

Because American dramas are very bloody, he doesn't like watching them.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 腥 (xīng) mean in Chinese?

腥 (xīng) primarily means "fishy (smell)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2600 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 腥 have?

腥 is written with 15 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 腥?

The radical associated with 腥 is 肉 (meat). This radical appears in many characters related to meat.

What are the components of 腥?

腥 is composed of: ⺼ (semantic), 星 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⺼星 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 腥?

Common words with 腥 include: 血腥 (xuè xīng, "reeking of blood"); 腥臭 (xīng chòu, "fishy and smelly"); 腥风血雨 (xīng fēng xuè yǔ, "lit. foul wind and bloody rain (idiom)"); 鱼腥草 (yú xīng cǎo, "chameleon plant"); 土腥 (tǔ xīng, "(of a taste or smell) earthy"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 腥 (xīng)?

Several characters share the pronunciation xīng: 猩 (ape), 醒 (to wake up), 星 (star), 刑 (punishment), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 腥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 腥 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 腥 with real-time feedback

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