(cǎi) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

cǎi color, hue; prize; brilliant; variegated 11 strokes · Radical (hair) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 彩 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced cǎi.

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
彩 — 11 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
left to collect
right hair

Radical

The radical of is — meaning hair. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

How the character is built

is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component (hair) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 彩

jīngcǎi wonderful; brilliant; spectacular
今晚的演出非常精彩。
Jīnwǎn de yǎnchū fēicháng jīngcǎi.
Tonight's performance was wonderful.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 17 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

读书会让你的知识更丰富,生活更精
From Mock Exam 19 →
这个杂志的内容还算精,图片也很漂亮,它的缺点是价格定得太高。
From Mock Exam 08 →
要看到世界的精,需要什么?
From Mock Exam 06 →

Tasks Featuring 彩 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 介绍文艺形式、活动、作品
Arts & Entertainment · 精彩

FAQ

What does 彩 mean in Chinese?

彩 (cǎi) means color, hue; prize; brilliant; variegated. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 彩 have?

彩 is written in 11 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 彩?

The radical of 彩 is 彡 (hair).

What is the pinyin for 彩?

彩 is pronounced cǎi.

What HSK 4 words use 彩?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 彩 appears in 1 word, including 精彩 (jīngcǎi). See the full list above.

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