HSK 6 · Verbs

理智 lǐzhì “reason” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 理智 means

  1. reason
  2. rational
  3. intellect
  4. rationality

How to say 理智

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale理lǐ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale智zhì4th tone, falling

理智 in a sentence

  1. 他终于恢复了理智。

    Tā zhōngyú huīfù le lǐzhì.

    He finally came to his senses.

    Sentence #7768220 from Tatoeba

  2. 他听到消息后失去了理智。

    Tā tīngdào xiāoxi hòu shīqù le lǐzhì.

    He lost his head when he heard the news.

    Sentence #333565 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 汤姆失去理智了。

    Tāngmǔ shīqù lǐzhì le.

    Tom has lost his mind.

    Sentence #3322616 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 理智 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 理 (lǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
理lǐtexture
  • 王king · wángMeaning part
  • 里village · lǐSound part

王 hints at the meaning (king); 里 (lǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with lǐ.

Memory aid王 here is jade 玉: cutting jade along its grain. 里 (lǐ) gives the sound: to put in order, reason.

The character 智 (zhì) with each of its parts in a different colour
智zhìwise; wisdom
  • 知to know · zhī
  • 日sun · rì

How to write 理智

理 11 strokes · 智 12 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

理智 (lǐzhì) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 理智 (lǐzhì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 理智

Words with 理

经理jīnglǐ · manager理解lǐjiě · to comprehend理想lǐxiǎng · an ideal理发lǐfà · to get a haircut修理xiūlǐ · to repair整理zhěnglǐ · to arrange管理guǎnlǐ · to supervise办理bànlǐ · to handle处理chǔlǐ · to handle合理hélǐ · rational

Words with 智

智慧zhìhuì · wisdom机智jīzhì · quick-witted明智míngzhì · wise智力zhìlì · intelligence智商zhìshāng · IQ智能zhìnéng · smart

More words: Thinking & Talking

领会lǐnghuì · to understand领悟lǐngwù · to comprehend流露liúlù · to reveal留神liúshén · to be careful论证lùnzhèng · to prove埋怨mányuàn · to complain冒犯màofàn · to offend勉励miǎnlì · to encourage

FAQs

理智 (lǐzhì) means “reason” or “rational”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it lǐzhì: lǐ with a 3rd tone, then zhì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 理智 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lizhi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 理智 from the suggestions. Typing lizhi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
理智 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.