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noun | 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noun | xiù tàn quǎn | sniffer dog |
| 嗅盐noun | 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.
是网友们的商业嗅觉变得更敏锐了,还是他们已经形成了对小米的固定印象?
shì wǎng yǒu men de shāng yè xiù jué biàn dé gēng mǐn ruì le , hái shì tā men yǐ jīng xíng chéng le duì xiǎo mǐ de gù dìng yìn xiàng ?
Is it that netizens have developed a keener business sense, or have they simply formed a fixed impression of Xiaomi?
嗅觉上,有焚香的气味。
xiù jué shàng , yǒu fén xiāng de qì wèi .
Olfactory-wise, there is a scent of burning incense.
例如,闻、嗅是狗的一种交流方式,它们通过闻、嗅了解周围的人或物。
lì rú , wén , xiù shì gǒu de yī zhǒng jiāo liú fāng shì , tā men tōng guò wén , xiù le jiě zhōu wéi de rén huò wù .
For example, sniffing and smelling are ways dogs communicate; they use these senses to learn about the people and objects around them.
侯瑞琴进一步解释,蚊子其实是靠嗅觉、视觉、温度感知并锁定目标。
Hóu ruì qín jìn yī bù jiě shì , wén zǐ qí shí shì kào xiù jué , shì jué , wēn dù gǎn zhī bìng suǒ dìng mù biāo .
Hou Ruiqin went on to explain that mosquitoes actually rely on their sense of smell, sight, and temperature to detect and lock onto their targets.
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
Does ALS cause sensory abnormalities? Vision, hearing, touch, and smell typically remain normal.
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
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What characters sound the same as 嗅 (xiù)?
Is 嗅 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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