倚 (yǐ): to lean on, to rely upon
倚 (yǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “to lean on.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 奇 (phonetic). It ranks #2504 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 倚 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- to lean on
- to rely upon
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 倚 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 倚靠 | yǐ kào | to lean on |
| 不偏不倚 | bù piān bù yǐ | (idiom) even-handed |
| 倚重 | yǐ zhòng | to rely heavily upon |
| 倚赖 | yǐ lài | to rely on |
| 倚老卖老 | yǐ lǎo mài lǎo | (idiom) to flaunt one's seniority |
| 倚仗 | yǐ zhàng | to lean on |
| 无倚无靠 | wú yǐ wú kào | see 無依無靠|无依无靠[wu2 yi1 wu2 kao4] |
| 倚天屠龙记 | yǐ tiān tú lóng jì | Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, wuxia (武俠|武侠[wu3 xia2], martial arts chivalry) novel by Jin Yong 金庸[Jin1 Yong1] and it... |
| 倚栏望月 | yǐ lán wàng yuè | to lean against the railings and look at the moon (idiom) |
| 倚托 | yǐ tuō | to rely upon |
| 蒹葭倚玉树 | jiān jiā yǐ yù shù | lit. reeds leaning on a jade tree (idiom) |
| 背倚 | bèi yǐ | to have one's back against |
| 蒹葭倚玉 | jiān jiā yǐ yù | see 蒹葭倚玉樹|蒹葭倚玉树[jian1 jia1 yi3 yu4 shu4] |
| 偏倚 | piān yǐ | to be partial |
| 凭倚 | píng yǐ | to rely on |
倚 appears in 16 compound words: 50 as the first character, 31 as the last, and 19 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 倚 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
synonym of 無依無靠 /无依无靠 (wúyīwúkào, “to have no one to depend on; to be helpless”)
to rely on one's seniority or old age to look down on others or do things
synonym of 無依無靠 /无依无靠 (wúyīwúkào, “to have no one to depend on; to be helpless”)
to rely on one's seniority or old age to look down on others or do things
Example Sentences
她倚长得很美，心地也很善良。
tā yǐ cháng dé hěn měi , xīn dì yě hěn shàn liáng .
She is exceptionally beautiful and has a kind heart.
李丽珍女儿许倚榕认将结婚 晒钻戒公开正版求婚片 与富贵...
lǐ lí zhēn nǚ ér xǔ yǐ 榕 rèn jiāng jié hūn shài zuān jiè gōng kāi zhèng bǎn qiú hūn piàn yǔ fù guì . . .
Li Lijun's daughter, Xu Yirong, confirms her engagement, shares a photo of her diamond ring, and releases the official proposal video with Fu Gui...
他把梯子倚着栅栏放。
Tā bǎ tīzi yǐ zhe zhàlán fàng.
He placed the ladder against the fence.
他倚着我的肩膀睡着了。
Tā yǐ zhe wǒ de jiānbǎng shuìzháo le.
He fell asleep on my shoulder.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 倚 (yǐ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 倚 and 寄?
How many strokes does 倚 have?
What is the radical of 倚?
What are the components of 倚?
What are common words containing 倚?
What characters sound the same as 倚 (yǐ)?
Is 倚 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 倚 with real-time feedback
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