直 (zhí): Zhi (c. 2000 BC), fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝 descended from Shennong 神農|神农 Farmer God, straight, to straighten
直 (zhí) is a Chinese character meaning “zhi (c. 2000 bc), fifth of the legendary flame emperors 炎帝 descended from shennong 神農|神农 farmer god.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 十 (structural), 目 (structural) and 一 (structural). It ranks #255 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 直 to look someone in the eye 目. Its radical form 目 (eye) appears in many related characters such as 看 (kàn, to look, to see), 真 (zhēn, really), 着 (zhe, -ing, to wear).
Definitions
- Zhi (c. 2000 BC), fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝 descended from Shennong 神農|神农 Farmer God
- straight
- to straighten
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo look someone in the eye 目
Decomposition: ⿳十目一 (layout: top-middle-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 直 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 直
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一直adverb | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line) | 3 |
| 直到verb | zhí dào | until | 3 |
| 简直adverb | jiǎn zhí | simply | 5 |
| 直接adjective | zhí jiē | direct (opposite: indirect 間接|间接) | 4 |
| 直播verb | zhí bō | (TV, radio) to broadcast live | 5 |
| 垂直verb | chuí zhí | perpendicular | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 直升机noun | zhí shēng jī | helicopter |
| 直觉noun | zhí jué | intuition |
| 正直adjective | zhèng zhí | upright |
| 直言verb | zhí yán | to speak forthrightly |
| 直线noun | zhí xiàn | straight line |
| 直升飞机noun | zhí shēng fēi jī | see 直升機|直升机 |
| 直至preposition | zhí zhì | lasting until |
| 直奔verb | zhí bèn | to go straight to |
| 直视verb | zhí shì | to look straight at |
| 直面verb | zhí miàn | to face (reality, danger etc) |
| 径直adverb | jìng zhí | directly |
| 直截了当phrase | zhí jié liǎo dàng | direct and plainspoken (idiom) |
| 直达verb | zhí dá | to reach (a place) directly |
| 勇往直前phrase | yǒng wǎng zhí qián | to advance bravely |
| 直径noun | zhí jìng | diameter |
直 appears in 103 compound words: 62 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 1 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 直 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (30)
Showing 12 of 30 idioms containing 直.
Example Sentences
直字在日常生活中使用频率很高。
zhí zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ hěn gāo .
The character "直" is used very frequently in daily life.
穿戴震动棒晚上一直穿会坏吗?这些使用注意事项要了解
chuān dài zhèn dòng bàng wǎn shàng yī zhí chuān huì huài ma ? zhè xiē shǐ yòng zhù yì shì xiàng yāo le jiě
Does wearing a vibrator all the time at night go bad? These precautions should be understood
...面|12岁女童跌出滑雪缆车吊挂8米高空 直坠救援网外受伤
. . . miàn 1 2 suì nǚ tóng diē chū huá xuě lǎn chē diào guà 8 mǐ gāo kōng zhí zhuì jiù yuán wǎng wài shòu shāng
... A 12-year-old girl fell out of the ski lift and was suspended 8 meters from the sky and fell straight out of the rescue net and was injured
秘鲁军用直升机救灾任务坠毁 15人全数罹难
mì lǔ jūn yòng zhí shēng jī jiù zāi rèn wù zhuì huǐ 1 5 rén quán shǔ 罹 nán
Peruvian military helicopter crashed on a disaster relief mission, killing all 15 people
...本倒闭潮创纪录! 124公司“没人上班”直接破产
. . . běn dǎo bì cháo chuàng jì lù ! 1 2 4 gōng sī méi rén shàng bān zhí jiē pò chǎn
... This bankruptcy wave is a record! 124 Company went bankrupt directly when "no one went to work"
日本“猫经济”直逼3兆日圆 几乎追平大阪世博
rì běn māo jīng jì zhí bī 3 zhào rì yuán jī hū zhuī píng dà 阪 shì bó
Japan's "cat economy" is approaching 3 trillion yen, almost tying the Osaka World Expo
这本书是不是他一直用的？
Zhè běn shū shìbùshì tā yīzhí yòng de?
Is this book the one he always uses?
好的。房间里长途电话可以直拨吗？
Hǎo de. fángjiān lǐ chángtúdiànhuà kěyǐ zhí bō ma?
Good. Can you make long distance calls from the room?
在这里一直有那么多人吗？
Zài zhèlǐ yīzhí yǒu nàme duō rén ma?
Are there always so many people here?
我们是不是直飞美国？
Wǒmen shìbùshì zhífēi Měiguó?
Are we making a nonstop flight to the U.S.?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 直 (zhí) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 直?
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What characters sound the same as 直 (zhí)?
Is 直 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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