歹

Death Radical (歹)

dǎi · 4 strokes

The death radical (歹) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 7 characters related to death and associated concepts. 7 characters: 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 6, 3 in HSK 7-9. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 歹 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Death Component (歹) page.

Death Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count4
Total Characters7
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (3 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes8
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Death Radical Characters

HSK 4 (1 characters)

死sǐto die

HSK 5 (1 characters)

殊shū(literary) to kill

HSK 6 (2 characters)

残cánto destroy殖zhíto grow

HSK 7-9 (3 characters)

歹dǎibad歼jiānto annihilate殃yāngcalamity

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the death radical mean in Chinese characters?
The death radical (歹) signals a semantic connection to death-related concepts. When you see 歹 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves death or associated ideas. It appears in 7 characters in the HSK character set. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the death radical?
There are 7 characters with the death radical (歹) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 6, 3 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental death-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common death radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the death radical (歹) are: 死 (sǐ, "to die"), 残 (cán, "to destroy"), 殊 (shū, "(literary) to kill"), 殖 (zhí, "to grow"), 歼 (jiān, "to annihilate"). These high-frequency characters are among the first death-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include death radical characters?
Characters with the death radical (歹) appear across 4 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 6, 3 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 3 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common death-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision.