HSK 6 · Adjectives

利害 lìhai “terrible” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 利害 means

  1. terrible
  2. fierce
  3. formidable

How to say 利害

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale利lì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own害haineutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

利害 in a sentence

  1. 今天太阳好利害，记得涂防晒霜。

    Jīntiān tàiyáng hǎo lìhai, jìde tú fángshàishuāng.

    The sun is fierce today, so remember to put on sunscreen.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这个小姑娘真利害，什么都会。

    Zhè ge xiǎo gūniang zhēn lìhai, shénme dōu huì.

    This little girl is amazing; she can do anything.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 利害 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 利 (lì) with each of its parts in a different colour
利lìsharp
  • 禾grain · hé
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāo
The character 害 (hài) with each of its parts in a different colour
害hàito do harm tolight in 利害
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 丰abundant · fēng
  • 口mouth · kǒu

How to write 利害

利 7 strokes · 害 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 利害

Words with 利

流利liúlì · fluent顺利shùnlì · smoothly胜利shènglì · victory利用lìyòng · to make use of有利yǒulì · advantageous利益lìyì · benefit利润lìrùn · profits利息lìxī · interest (on a loan)权利quánlì · right (an entitlement)便利biànlì · convenient

Words with 害

害怕hàipà · afraid of厉害lìhai · impressive害羞hàixiū · shy伤害shānghài · to hurt危害wēihài · to harm灾害zāihài · calamity迫害pòhài · to persecute陷害xiànhài · to frame

More words: Adjectives

类似lèisì · similar冷酷lěngkù · cold-hearted廉洁liánjié · honest辽阔liáokuò · vast伶俐línglì · clever灵敏língmǐn · sensitive零星língxīng · scattered吝啬lìnsè · stingy

FAQs

利害 (lìhai) means “terrible” or “fierce”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it lìhai: lì with a 4th tone, then hai with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 利害 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lihai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 利害 from the suggestions. Typing lihai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
利害 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.