嗅 (xiù): to smell, to sniff, to nose
嗅 (xiù) is a Chinese character meaning “to smell.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (structural) and 臭 (structural). It ranks #2567 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 嗅 to taste 口 an odor 臭; 臭 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- to smell
- to sniff
- to nose
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo taste 口 an odor 臭; 臭 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰口臭 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 嗅 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 嗅觉 | xiù jué | sense of smell |
| 嗅球 | xiù qiú | olfactory bulb (anatomy) |
| 嗅探 | xiù tàn | to sniff (in order to find sth) |
| 嗅探犬 | xiù tàn quǎn | sniffer dog |
| 嗅盐 | xiù yán | smelling salts |
嗅 appears in 5 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 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 嗅 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
妈妈嗅嘱我要按时吃饭，注意身体健康。
mā mā xiù zhǔ wǒ yāo àn shí chī fàn , zhù yì shēn tī jiàn kāng .
Mom reminded me to eat on time and take care of my health.
渐冻症会感觉异常嘛?视听触嗅觉通常保持正常的特征
jiān dòng zhèng huì gǎn jué yì cháng ma ? shì tīng chù xiù jué tōng cháng bǎo chí zhèng cháng de tè zhēng
心有猛虎，细嗅蔷薇。
Xīn yǒu měng hǔ, xì xiù qiángwēi.
In me the tiger sniffs the rose.
我在电梯里嗅到烟味。
Wǒ zài diàntī lǐ xiù dào yān wèi.
I smell smoke in the elevator.
狗的嗅觉比人类敏锐得多。
Gǒu de xiùjué bǐ rénlèi mǐnruì de duō.
A dog's sense of smell is much keener than a human's.
他一嗅到风声不对，就逃之夭夭了。
Tā yī xiù dào fēng shēng bù duì, jiù táozhīyāoyāo le.
Sensing danger, he ran away.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 嗅 (xiù) mean in Chinese?
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Is 嗅 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 嗅 with real-time feedback
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