HSK 6 · Verbs

瓦解 wǎjiě “to collapse” in Chinese

Said as wájiě

Same in Traditional

What 瓦解 means

  1. to collapse
  2. to disintegrate
  3. to crumble
  4. to disrupt
  5. to break up

How to say 瓦解

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale瓦wǎ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale解jiě3rd tone, dipping

Said as wájiě. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

瓦解 in a sentence

  1. 他的一句话瓦解了我们的信心。

    Tā de yí jù huà wǎjiě le wǒmen de xìnxīn.

    One remark from him knocked our confidence.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这个小团体很快就瓦解了。

    Zhè ge xiǎo tuántǐ hěn kuài jiù wǎjiě le.

    This little group soon fell apart.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 瓦解 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 瓦 (wǎ) drawn as one shape
瓦wǎroof tile

瓦 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 解 (jiě) with each of its parts in a different colour
解jiěto divide
  • 角horn · jiǎo
  • 刀knife · dāo
  • 牛cow · niú

Memory aidA knife 刀 taking the horn 角 off an ox 牛: to take apart, to explain.

How to write 瓦解

瓦 4 strokes · 解 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 瓦解

Words with 解

解决jiějué · settle a dispute了解liǎojiě · comprehend解释jiěshì · explanation理解lǐjiě · to comprehend缓解huǎnjiě · to bring relief解剖jiěpōu · to dissect辩解biànjiě · to justify误解wùjiě · to misunderstand解除jiěchú · to remove解散jiěsàn · to dissolve

More words: Common Verbs

推翻tuīfān · to overthrow涂抹túmǒ · to smear脱离tuōlí · to break away from拖延tuōyán · to delay挖掘wājué · to dig完毕wánbì · to finish挽回wǎnhuí · to retrieve挽救wǎnjiù · to save

FAQs

瓦解 (wǎjiě) means “to collapse” or “to disintegrate”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it wǎjiě: wǎ with a 3rd tone, then jiě with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like wájiě. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 瓦解 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wajie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 瓦解 from the suggestions. Typing wajie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
瓦解 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.