Chinese word dictionary

刺激

cìjī · to provoke; to irritate; to upset; to stimulate; to excite; irritant

Practice word

Word information

Simplified刺激

Traditional刺激

Pinyincìjī

Part of speech动、名

HSK 3.05

HSK 2.05

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

刺cì

to stab; to prick, to irritate; to prod

激jī

to arouse, to incite; acute, sharp; fierce, violent

How to learn 刺激

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

冰激凌bīngjīlíng

ice cream

激动jīdòng

to move emotionally; to stir up (emotions); to excite

激烈jīliè

(of competition or fighting) intense; fierce; (of pain) acute; (of an expression of opinion) impassioned; vehement; (of a course of action) drastic; extreme

刺cì

thorn; sting; thrust; to prick; to pierce; to stab; to assassinate; to murder

感激gǎnjī

to be grateful; to appreciate; thankful

激发jīfā

to arouse; to stimulate; (physics) to excite