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

xiǎn narrow pass, strategic point 9 strokes · Radical (place) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 险 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 xiǎn.

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
险 — 9 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 place
right all

Radical

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

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: .

How the character is built

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

HSK 4 Words Containing 险

wēixiǎn dangerous; danger
在路上开车不要看手机,太危险了。
Zài lù shàng kāichē búyào kàn shǒujī, tài wēixiǎn le.
Don't look at your phone while driving, it's too dangerous.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 16 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

因为无论对自己还是对其他人,这样做都是极其危的。
From Mock Exam 03 →
女的认为什么很危
From Mock Exam 12 →

Tasks Featuring 险 / 相关任务

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

📚 谈论社会现象
Social Phenomena · 危险

FAQ

What does 险 mean in Chinese?

险 (xiǎn) means narrow pass, strategic point. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 险 have?

险 is written in 9 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 险?

The radical of 险 is 阝 (place). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 部, 际, 随, 队, 降.

What is the pinyin for 险?

险 is pronounced xiǎn.

What HSK 4 words use 险?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 险 appears in 1 word, including 危险 (wēixiǎn). See the full list above.

xián All Characters xiàn →