Hanzi Writer

How to Write 咥 (xì) — Meaning “to eat (dialect); to laugh”

9 strokes Radical: 口

咥 (xì) means "to eat (dialect); to laugh" in Chinese. It has 9 strokes with the radical 口.

Rated 4/5 in difficulty (challenging).

Appears in 3+ common words including 咥饭 (xì fàn), 咥笑 (xì xiào), 咥一口 (xì yī kǒu).

Due to its 9 strokes, Hanzi Writer's error detection shows 咥 requires focused practice — most learners need 10+ attempts for consistent accuracy.

Stroke order practice for 咥 - xì

Practice Writing 咥 (xì)

Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 咥 with real-time feedback.

The character (xì) is written with 9 strokes. Follow the standard Chinese stroke order: top to bottom, left to right, outside before inside. The radical is one of its key components.

Practice the correct stroke order with the Hanzi Writer app to see animated stroke-by-stroke guidance with real-time feedback.

means to eat (dialect); to laugh.

Character
Pinyinxì (xi)
Meaningto eat (dialect); to laugh
Strokes9
Radical
Difficulty4/5

咥 is a phono-semantic compound combining the mouth radical 口 (indicating an action of the mouth, such as eating or laughing) with 至 (zhì, meaning 'arrive'), which provides the pronunciation clue. Historically, the character appears in the Book of Songs (诗经) to describe hearty laughter, while in some dialects it is used for eating.

💡 Memory Tip: Picture a mouth (口) laughing so hard that a slice of pizza (至, resembling a pizza slice arriving) falls out, and you have to eat it off the ground—咥!.

xì fàn
to eat a meal
xì xiào
to laugh; to smile
xì yī kǒu
to take a bite

我们去咥饭吧。

wǒ men qù xì fàn ba

Let's go grab a big meal.

兄弟二人咥笑。

xiōng dì èr rén xì xiào

The two brothers laughed loudly.

狠狠地咥一口肉。

hěn hěn dì xì yī kǒu ròu

To take a big, hearty bite of meat.

Character Pinyin Strokes Radical
(current) 9
jūn 7
lìn 7
tūn 7
Stroke order practice for 咥 - xì

Practice Writing 咥 (xì)

Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 咥 with real-time feedback.

✨ Animated stroke order · Handwriting recognition · HSK-graded practice · Free to use

Frequently Asked Questions about 咥

咥 is made of the radical 口 (mouth) and the component 至 (to reach or arrive). The mouth reaching food suggests eating, and a wide-open mouth can also imply laughing. Together, these parts explain 咥's meanings of 'to eat' (in dialect) and 'to laugh'.

Characters with Radical 口

Other 9-Stroke Characters