Dictionary › 辛

辛

xīn

HSK 4 Character

What 辛 means

1. (of taste) hot or pungent
2. hard
3. laborious
4. suffering
5. eighth in order
6. eighth of the ten Heavenly Stems {十天干|shí tiān gān}
7. letter "H" or Roman "VIII" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc
8. ancient Chinese compass point: 285°
9. octa

Other readings

辛 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• Xīnsurname Xin

Example sentences

• 辛苦啦！
  Good work!
• 大家辛苦了！
  Good job, everyone!
• 做教师很辛苦。
  Being a teacher is very hard work.
• 学习英语很辛苦。
  Learning English is hard work.
• 韩国菜以辛辣闻名。
  Hánguó cài yǐ xīnlà wénmíng.
  Korean food is noted for its spicy flavor.
• 没有谁比你们辛苦。
  No one is more hardworking than you all.

Words starting with 辛

• 辛苦xīn kǔexhausting; hard; tough
• 辛勤xīn qínhardworking; industrious
• 辛酸xīn suānpungent (taste); bitter; fig. sad
• 辛辛苦苦xīn xīn kǔ kǔpainstakingly; with great trouble
• 辛劳xīn láolaborious
• 辛格Xīn gé(name) Singh
• 辛亥革命Xīn hài Gé mìngXinhai Revolution (1911), which ended the Qing Dynasty
• 辛辣xīn làspicy hot (taste); fig. biting (criticism)
• 辛亥xīn hàiforty-eighth year H12 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1971 or 2031; cf 辛亥革命
• 辛奇xīn qí(loanword) kimchi
• 辛布Xīn bùThimphu, capital of Bhutan (Tw)
• 辛未xīn wèieight year H8 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1991 or 2051
• 辛巴威Xīn bā wēiZimbabwe (Tw)
• 辛贝特xīn bèi tèShin Bet (Israel national security service)
• 辛迪加xīn dí jiā(loanword) syndicate
• 辛集市Xīn jí ShìXinji, a county-level city in Shijiazhuang City 石家庄市
• 辛辛那提Xīn xīn nà tíCincinnati, Ohio
• 辛丑xīn chǒuthirty-eighth year H2 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1961 or 2021…
• 辛丑条约Xīn chǒu Tiáo yuēBoxer Protocol of 1901 signed in Beijing, ending the Eight-power Allied Force…
• 辛伐他汀xīn fá tā tīngsimvastatin
• 辛烷xīn wánoctane (C8H18)
• 辛烷值xīn wán zhíoctane rating
• 辛卯xīn mǎotwenty-eighth year H4 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 2011 or 2071
• 辛勤耕耘xīn qín gēng yúnto devote oneself tirelessly to one's work; to labor diligently over many years

Words containing 辛

• 艰辛jiān xīnhardships; arduous; difficult
• 千辛万苦qiān xīn wàn kǔto suffer untold hardships (idiom); trials and tribulations; with difficulty…
• 基辛格Jī xīn géHenry Kissinger (1923–2023), US academic and politician, Secretary of State 1973–1977
• 含辛茹苦hán xīn rú kǔto suffer every possible torment (idiom); bitter hardship; to bear one's cross
• 赫尔辛基Hè ěr xīn jīHelsinki (Swedish Helsingfors), capital of Finland
• 不辞辛苦bù cí xīn kǔto make nothing of hardships
• 帝辛Dì XīnEmperor Xin, last ruler of Shang (11th Century BC), famous as a tyrant
• 拉辛Lā xīnJean Racine (1639-1699), French dramatist
• 秘辛mì xīnbehind-the-scenes story; details known only to insiders
• 细辛xì xīnManchurian wild ginger (family Asarum)
• 兰辛Lán xīnLansing, capital of Michigan
• 谢辛Xiè XīnChea Sim, president of Cambodian National Assembly
• 酸辛suān xīnmisery
• 戴奥辛dài ào xīndioxin, carcinogenic heterocyclic hydrocarbon (esp. Taiwan usage)
• 备尝辛苦bèi cháng xīn kǔ(idiom) to have suffered all kinds of hardships
• 奥斯威辛Ào sī wēi xīnAuschwitz (concentration camp)
• 奥斯维辛Ào sī wéi xīnAuschwitz (concentration camp)
• 威斯康辛Wēi sī kāng xīnWisconsin
• 施瓦辛格Shī wǎ xīn géArnold Schwarzenegger (1947–), Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor and politician…
• 圣哈辛托Shèng hā xīn tuōSan Jacinto
• 奉辛比克党Fèng xīn bǐ kè dǎngFuncinpec (royalist Cambodian political party)
• 利辛县Lì xīn XiànLixin, a county in Bozhou City 亳州市
• 高辛氏Gāo xīn shìone of the five legendary emperors, also called 喾
• 喷他佐辛pēn tā zuǒ xīn(loanword) pentazocine (a synthetic opioid analgesic)

Characters built on 立

These share the phonetic component 立 (lì), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 音yīnsound; noise; note (of musical scale)
• 亲qīnparent; one's own (flesh and blood); relative

Characters that look like 辛

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 争zhēngto strive for; to vie for; to argue or debate
• 奇qístrange; odd; weird
• 昂ángto lift; to raise; to raise one's head
• 李lǐplum
• 卒zúsoldier; servant; to finish
• 帚zhǒubroom

Sounds the same

Read xīn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 新new; newly; meso- (chemistry)
• 心heart; mind; intention
• 欣happy
• 薪(literary) firewood; fuel; (bound form) salary
• 芯(bound form) the pith of the rush plant (used as a lampwick)
• 馨fragrant
• 鑫(used in names of people and shops, symbolizing prosperity)
• 歆pleased; moved
• 昕dawn
• 锌zinc (chemistry)
• 忻happy
• 莘Asarum; Wild ginger; also 细辛