炙 (zhì): to broil, to roast

炙 (zhì) is a Chinese character meaning “to broil.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 月 (phonetic) and 火 (semantic). It ranks #3222 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 炙 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 烟 (yān, smoke), 烧 (shāo, to burn, to cook).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to broil
  2. to roast

Etymology & Origin

炙

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿱月火 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
炙手可热zhì shǒu kě rèlit. burn your hand, feel the heat (idiom)
脍炙人口kuài zhì rén kǒuappealing to the masses
亲炙qīn zhìto be enlightened by direct contact with sb
炙热zhì rèextremely hot (weather)
焦炙jiāo zhìto scorch
腩炙nǎn zhìstewed brisket
烤炙kǎo zhìto scorch
7
Total compounds
29
As first character
57
As last character
14
As middle character

炙 appears in 7 compound words: 29 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 14 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

炙手可热zhì shǒu kě rè

lit. burn your hand, feel the heat (idiom); fig. arrogance of the powerful; a mighty figure no-one dares approach

phrase
脍炙人口kuài zhì rén kǒu

appealing to the masses; universally appreciated (idiom)

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

从炙烤茶饼到煮茶分饮,全套仪轨庄重肃穆。

cóng zhì kǎo chá bǐng dào zhǔ chá fēn yǐn , quán tào yí guǐ zhuāng chóng sù mù .

From roasting the tea cakes to brewing and serving the tea, the entire ritual is solemn and dignified.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

刘昊 摄 蔡玉臻表示,八仙传说融合仙话意境与市井人情,是脍炙人口的山海传奇。

liú 昊 shè cài yù zhēn biǎo shì , bā xiān chuán shuō róng hé xiān huà yì jìng yǔ shì jǐng rén qíng , shì 脍 zhì rén kǒu de shān hǎi chuán qí .

Photo by Liu Hao. Cai Yuzhen noted that the legend of the Eight Immortals blends the ethereal atmosphere of immortal tales with the warmth of everyday life, making it a widely beloved legend of the mountains and seas.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

高温炙烤下,景物在眼前发颤,晃晃悠悠似要融化一般。

gāo wēn zhì kǎo xià , jǐng wù zài yǎn qián fā chàn , huǎng huǎng yōu yōu sì yào róng huà yī bān .

Under the scorching heat, the scenery shimmered before my eyes, swaying as if it were about to melt.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

除了高温炙人,此时还潮湿多雨,闷热不已,十分难熬。

chú le gāo wēn zhì rén , cǐ shí hái cháo shī duō yǔ , mēn rè bù yǐ , shí fēn nán áo .

In addition to the scorching heat, it’s also humid and rainy right now, making it stiflingly hot and unbearable.

中国新闻网·体育May 2026

当天巴黎烈日炎炎,仍在热浪炙烤中,最高气温为32摄氏度,体感温度更高。

dāng tiān bā lí liè rì yán yán , réng zài rè làng zhì kǎo zhōng , zuì gāo qì wēn wéi 3 2 shè shì dù , tǐ gǎn wēn dù gèng gāo .

It was a scorching day in Paris, still in the grip of a heat wave, with a high of 32 degrees Celsius and a heat index even higher.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 火 (fire) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 炙 (zhì) mean in Chinese?
炙 (zhì) primarily means "to broil." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3222 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 炙 and 有?
炙 (zhì) and 有 (yǒu) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 火 vs 月 (same 月 component).
How many strokes does 炙 have?
炙 is written with 8 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 炙?
The radical associated with 炙 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.
What are the components of 炙?
炙 is composed of: 月 (phonetic), 火 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱月火 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 炙?
Common words with 炙 include: 炙手可热 (zhì shǒu kě rè, "lit. burn your hand, feel the heat (idiom)"); 脍炙人口 (kuài zhì rén kǒu, "appealing to the masses"); 亲炙 (qīn zhì, "to be enlightened by direct contact with sb"); 炙热 (zhì rè, "extremely hot (weather)"); 焦炙 (jiāo zhì, "to scorch"). There are over 7 compound words containing this character.
Is 炙 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 炙 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 炙 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.