(xūn): to smoke, to fumigate, to assail the nostrils

(xūn) is a Chinese character meaning “to smoke.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic). It ranks #2745 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, fire. Its radical form (fire) appears in many related characters such as (huǒ, fire), (dēng, lamp, light), (yān, smoke).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: fire14 strokesFrequency #2745 semantic

Definitions

  1. to smoke
  2. to fumigate
  3. to assail the nostrils

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticfire

Components:semantic

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
xūn ròubacon
xūn táoto seep in
xūn zhēng(of sultry weather) to be stifling
lì yù xūn xīnblinded by greed (idiom)
xūn rǎnto exert a gradual influence
chòu xūn xūnstinking
quán yù xūn xīnobsessed by a craving for power
xiāng xūn liáo fǎaromatherapy (alternative medicine)
xūn táo chéng xìng(idiom) nurture makes second nature
chòu qì xūn tiānoverwhelming stench (idiom)
yān xūn yǎnsmoky eyes look (cosmetics)
xūn tiānoverpowering (of a stench)
xūn xīn(of greed, lust etc) to dominate one's thoughts
xūn yī cǎovariant of 薰衣草[xun1 yi1 cao3]
xūn zhìto smoke
25
Total compounds
52
As first character
8
As last character
40
As middle character

appears in 25 compound words: 52 as the first character, 8 as the last, and 40 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.

yān
0.5571,374 co-occurrences
táo
0.5572,412 co-occurrences
zhēng
0.493678 co-occurrences
kǎo
0.474294 co-occurrences
dùn
0.46048 co-occurrences
chòu
0.446192 co-occurrences
zhuó
0.443120 co-occurrences
bǐng
0.432132 co-occurrences
ròu
0.432708 co-occurrences
0.431168 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

lì yù xūn xīnHSK 7+

blinded by greed (idiom)

phrase
yān xūn huǒ liǎoHSK 7+

smoke and baking fire (idiom); surrounded by flames and smoke

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

篝火晚会上,大家手拉手围着堆跳舞。

篝 huǒ wǎn huì shǎng , dà jiā shǒu lā shǒu wéi zhe xūn duī tiào wǔ .

At the bonfire party, everyone danced hand in hand around the smoke pile.

東方日報Apr 2026

东涌满东邨梯间报纸起火墙身黑 列纵火跟进

dōng chōng mǎn dōng 邨 tī jiān bào zhǐ qǐ huǒ qiáng shēn xūn hēi liè zòng huǒ gēn jìn

StheadlineMar 2026

大埔公屋户食烟臭走廊 邻居硬食二手烟忍无可忍 铁闸贴粗...

dà bù gōng wū hù shí yān xūn chòu zǒu láng lín jū yìng shí èr shǒu yān rěn wú kě rěn tiě zhá tiē cū . . .

99 健康网Mar 2026

老年人子宫下垂的治疗方式有哪些?中药蒸坐浴促进局部循环吗

lǎo nián rén zǐ gōng xià chuí de zhì liáo fāng shì yǒu nǎ xiē ? zhōng yào xūn zhēng zuò yù cù jìn jú bù xún huán ma

What are the treatment methods for uterine ptosis in the elderly? Does traditional Chinese medicine fumigation sitz bath promote local circulation?

99 健康网Mar 2026

妇科白斑怎么治疗才能彻底根除?中药洗能改善局部循环吗

fù kē bái bān zěn má zhì liáo cái néng chè de gēn chú ? zhōng yào xūn xǐ néng gǎi shàn jú bù xún huán ma

How can vaginal leukoplakia be completely cured? Can herbal steam baths improve local blood circulation?

Hk01.comFeb 2026

...尿袋起火 8名留学生不适送院 部份人面部

. . . niào dài qǐ huǒ 8 míng liú xué shēng bù shì sòng yuàn bù fèn rén miàn bù xūn hēi

... Urine bag caught fire, 8 international students were sent to the hospital unwell, and some people's faces were blackened

Tatoeba

他的牙齿被烟黄了。

Tā de yáchǐ bèi yānxūn huáng le.

His teeth are yellow from smoking too much.

Tatoeba

垃圾箱臭气天。

Lājīxiāng chòuqìxūntiān.

The garbage-can gave off a bad smell.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced xūn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 熏 (xūn) mean in Chinese?
熏 (xūn) primarily means "to smoke." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2745 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 熏 have?
熏 is written with 14 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 熏?
The radical associated with 熏 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.
What are the components of 熏?
熏 is composed of: 灬 (semantic). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 熏?
Common words with 熏 include: 熏肉 (xūn ròu, "bacon"); 熏陶 (xūn táo, "to seep in"); 熏蒸 (xūn zhēng, "(of sultry weather) to be stifling"); 利欲熏心 (lì yù xūn xīn, "blinded by greed (idiom)"); 熏染 (xūn rǎn, "to exert a gradual influence"). There are over 25 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 熏 (xūn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xūn: 勋 ((bound form) meritorious accomplishment), 寻 (to search), 旬 (ten days), 巡 (to patrol), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 熏 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 熏 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.