(xiù): sleeve

(xiù) is a Chinese character meaning “sleeve.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #1672 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, clothes. Its radical form (clothing) appears in many related characters such as (, clothing), (biǎo, exterior surface), (zhuāng, dress, install).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. sleeve

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticclothes

Decomposition: ⿰衤由 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounxiù zisleeve6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
lǐng xiùleader
xiù shǒu páng guānto watch with folded arms (idiom)
cháng xiùlong sleeves
xiù kǒucuff
xiù zhēnpocket-sized
duǎn xiùshort sleeves
yī xiùthe sleeve of a garment
xiù zhāngarmband (e.g. as part of uniform or to show status)
fú xiù ér qùto storm off in a huff (idiom)
liǎng xiù qīng fēnglit. both sleeves flowing in the breeze (idiom)
xiù biāoarmband
xiù guǎnsleeve
qīng fēng liǎng xiùhonest and upright (idiom)
jīng shén lǐng xiùspiritual leader (of a nation or church)
cháng xiù shàn wǔlong sleeves help one dance beautifully (idiom)
33
Total compounds
52
As first character
30
As last character
18
As middle character

appears in 33 compound words: 52 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 18 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

sǎo
0.77927 co-occurrences
lǐng
0.672104,219 co-occurrences
shǐ
0.57227 co-occurrences
rèn
0.52227 co-occurrences
fáng
0.50927 co-occurrences
zhēn
0.50227 co-occurrences
shān
0.4741,506 co-occurrences
dǎng
0.46116,884 co-occurrences
0.46127 co-occurrences
jiān
0.46127 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

liǎngxiùqīngfēngHSK 6+

to be uncorrupted and upright and never take bribes

phrase
qīng fēng liǎng xiùHSK 6+

honest and upright (idiom)

phrase
xiùshǒupángguānHSK 6+

to put one's hands into one's sleeves and look on; to observe and do nothing; to stand by; to become a passive observer

phrase
chángxiùshànwǔHSK 6+

to have tricks up one’s sleeve and be likely to succeed; be able to make good use of one's connections

phrase
duànxiùzhīpǐHSK 6+

male homosexuality

phrase
fúxiù'érqùHSK 6+

to leave in anger or in dissatisfaction

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这件衬衫的子太长了,卷起来才合适。

Zhè jiàn chènshān de xiùzi tài cháng le, juǎn qǐlái cái héshì.

The sleeves of this shirt are too long; they need to be rolled up to fit.

風傳媒Mar 2026

...位好读雨果的文艺青年,如何成为伊朗最高领

. . . wèi hǎo dòu yǔ guǒ de wén yì qīng nián , rú hé chéng wéi yī lǎng zuì gāo lǐng xiù

... How a literary and artistic young man who reads Hugo became the supreme leader of Iran

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

美以联手空袭 伊朗外长:最高领等高官都活着

měi yǐ lián shǒu kōng xí yī lǎng wài cháng : zuì gāo lǐng xiù děng gāo guān dōu huó zhe

The United States and Israel jointly launched airstrikes on Iranian Foreign Minister: The Supreme Leader and other senior officials are alive

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

伊朗最高领 哈米尼强硬外交抗美以

yī lǎng zuì gāo lǐng xiù hā mǐ ní qiáng yìng wài jiāo kàng měi yǐ

Iran's Supreme Leader Hamini has tough diplomacy to resist the United States and Israel

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

卫星图像显示:伊朗最高领住所严重损毁

wèi xīng tú xiàng xiǎn shì : yī lǎng zuì gāo lǐng xiù zhù suǒ yán chóng sǔn huǐ

Satellite images show that the residence of Iran's supreme leader was severely damaged

百度新闻Feb 2026

伊最高领称伊朗武器事务“与美国无关”

yī zuì gāo lǐng xiù chèn yī lǎng wǔ qì shì wù yú měi guó mó guān

Iran's Supreme Leader Says Iran's Weapons Matters "Have Nothing to Do with the U.S."

Tatoeba

夏天我穿短衬衫。

Xiàtiān wǒ chuān duǎnxiù chènshān.

In the summer I wear short-sleeved shirts.

Tatoeba

他们把他奉为领

Tāmen bǎ tā fèng wéi lǐngxiù.

They looked up to him as their leader.

Tatoeba

你要是不答应的话,我就手旁观。

Nǐ yàoshi bù dāying dehuà, wǒ jiù xiùshǒupángguān.

If you don't make the promise, then I'll just stand by and watch.

Tatoeba

卷起你右边的子。

Juǎnqǐ nǐ yòubian de xiùzi.

Roll up your right sleeve.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 袖 (xiù) mean in Chinese?
袖 (xiù) primarily means "sleeve." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1672 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 袖 and 油?
袖 (xiù) and 油 (yóu) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 衤 vs 氵 (same 由 component).
How many strokes does 袖 have?
袖 is written with 10 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 袖?
The radical associated with 袖 is 衤 (clothing). This radical appears in many characters related to clothing.
What are the components of 袖?
袖 is composed of: 衤 (semantic), 由 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰衤由 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 袖?
Common words with 袖 include: 领袖 (lǐng xiù, "leader"); 袖手旁观 (xiù shǒu páng guān, "to watch with folded arms (idiom)"); 袖子 (xiù zi, "sleeve"); 长袖 (cháng xiù, "long sleeves"); 袖口 (xiù kǒu, "cuff"). There are over 33 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 袖 (xiù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiù: 休 (to rest), 修 (to decorate), 羞 (shy), 朽 (rotten), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 袖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 袖 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.