(zhì): sincere

(zhì) is a Chinese character meaning “sincere.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #2753 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, to shake 执 hands 手; 执 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form (hand) appears in many related characters such as (shǒu, hand), (, hit, make), (zhǎo, to look for).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. sincere

Etymology & Origin

ideographicTo shake 执 hands 手; 执 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿱执手 (layout: top-bottom)

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

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
verbzhì àitrue love
nounzhì yǒuintimate friend
adjectivechéng zhìsincere
adjectivezhēn zhìsincere
shēn zhìheartfelt and genuine
zhì yǒu liáng péngintimate friend and companion (idiom)
zhì qíngtrue feelings
zhì qièsincere
zhì chéngsincere
dǔ zhìsincere (in friendship)
10
Total compounds
60
As first character
40
As last character
0
As middle character

appears in 10 compound words: 60 as the first character, 40 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

chéng
0.573460 co-occurrences
yǒu
0.5201,402 co-occurrences
wèi
0.490172 co-occurrences
kěn
0.48132 co-occurrences
ài
0.447624 co-occurrences
zhēn
0.411520 co-occurrences
qiàn
0.40860 co-occurrences
wèn
0.391210 co-occurrences
0.37724 co-occurrences
dào
0.35424 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

出你的证件,配合我们的工作。

qǐng zhì chū nǐ de zhèng jiàn , pèi gě wǒ men de gōng zuò .

Please present your identification and cooperate with our work.

少数派Aug 2026

在这世风日下、人心不古的今天,唯有《碧蓝之海》里人与人的真情谊,还能给人一些温度。

zài zhè shì fēng rì xià , rén xīn bù gǔ de jīn tiān , wéi yǒu bì lán zhī hǎi lǐ rén yǔ rén de zhēn zhì qíng yì , hái néng gěi rén yī xiē wēn dù .

In today’s world, where morals are in decline and people are no longer what they used to be, only the sincere bonds between people in *The Azure Sea* can still offer some warmth.

少数派Aug 2026

改编自同名晋江小说,这部乍看平平无奇的国产动画电影,凭借真的感情收获众多好评。

gǎi biān zì tóng míng jìn jiāng xiǎo shuō , zhè bù 乍 kàn píng píng wú qí de guó chǎn dòng huà diàn yǐng , píng jiè zhēn zhì de gǎn qíng shōu huò zhòng duō hǎo píng .

Adapted from the Jinjiang novel of the same name, this Chinese animated film—which at first glance seems unremarkable—has garnered widespread acclaim for its heartfelt storytelling.

WorldjournalApr 2026

柯震东宣布新身分 2爱离世后:没准备好投入下一段关系

Kē zhèn dōng xuān bù xīn shēn fēn 2 zhì ài lí shì hòu : méi zhǔn bèi hǎo tóu rù xià yī duàn guān xì

Ko Chen-tung Reveals New Status After the Passing of Two Loved Ones: Not Ready for a New Relationship

TvbsMar 2026

...在明面上!4星座晕船后“话超多” 热烈真挡不住

. . . zài míng miàn shàng ! 4 xīng zuò yūn chuán hòu huà chāo duō rè liè zhēn zhì dǎng bù zhù

...On the surface! 4 zodiac signs who become "chatty" after falling in love—their passion and sincerity are unstoppable

WorldjournalFeb 2026

王祖贤新春开工 紧抱爱吃早餐近况曝光

wáng zǔ xián xīn chūn kāi gōng jǐn bào zhì ài chī zǎo cān jìn kuàng pù guāng

Wang Zuxian started work in the New Year and hugged his beloved to eat breakfast

Tatoeba

你就是我永远的爱。

Nǐ jiùshì wǒ yǒngyuǎn de zhì'ài.

You're the one I'll always love.

Tatoeba

请接受我诚的歉意。

Qǐng jiēshòu wǒ chéngzhì de qiànyì.

Please accept my sincere apologies.

Tatoeba

请接受我对您今天的成功最诚的祝贺。

Qǐng jiēshòu wǒ duì nín jīntiān de chénggōng zuì chéngzhì de zhùhè.

Please accept my sincere congratulations on your success today.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 挚 (zhì) mean in Chinese?
挚 (zhì) primarily means "sincere." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2753 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 挚 have?
挚 is written with 9 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 挚?
The radical associated with 挚 is 扌 (hand). This radical appears in many characters related to hand.
What are the components of 挚?
挚 is composed of: 执 (structural), 手 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱执手 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 挚?
Common words with 挚 include: 挚爱 (zhì ài, "true love"); 挚友 (zhì yǒu, "intimate friend"); 诚挚 (chéng zhì, "sincere"); 真挚 (zhēn zhì, "sincere"); 深挚 (shēn zhì, "heartfelt and genuine"). There are over 10 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 挚 (zhì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhì: 只 (classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc), 知 (to know), 直 (Zhi (c. 2000 BC), fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝 descended from Shennong 神農|神农 Farmer God), 指 (finger, point), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 挚 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 挚 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.