Mandarin Chinese · Free dictionary

Chinese Dictionary English ⇄ Mandarin

This free Chinese dictionary looks up any word in English, pinyin or Chinese characters, or one you draw. Hear it spoken at normal and slow speed, and open a full page for core HSK words, with example sentences, tones and stroke order.

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✓Audio, normal and slow✓Over 100,000 entries✓Simplified and Traditional✓Checked by a native teacher

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Your word list

Tap Save on any word page to collect it here. Your list stays on this device.

Print a tracing worksheet for your words Practise writing them online

Hear the four tones

The colour of the pinyin shows the tone. Tap each to hear the difference.

Learn the tones properly

Browse every HSK word

Browse the Chinese dictionary by HSK level: pick one to see every word in it. HSK 1 words open their own page with audio, example sentences and stroke order. Words from higher levels show their full meaning here, and gain their own pages level by level.

How to use this Chinese dictionary

Type in whatever you have. The Chinese dictionary works out whether you typed English, pinyin or characters, and shows the closest matches first, with the words learners meet most often at the top.

Chinese dictionary search for “thank you” in English, with 谢谢 (xièxie) as the top result — **English to Chinese**Type *thank you* or *bank*. The Chinese dictionary puts the word learners need first, with its pinyin, HSK level and a play button.

Chinese dictionary search in pinyin without tone marks: laoshi finds 老师 (lǎoshī), 老实 (lǎoshi) and other words, tones in colour — **Pinyin, with or without tones**No Chinese keyboard? Type *laoshi* and every word spelt that way appears, tones in colour, so you can tell 老师 (teacher) from 老实 (honest). Tone marks are optional.

Chinese dictionary search with Traditional characters: 學習 finds 学习 (xuéxí) — **Chinese characters**Paste 学习 or the Traditional 學習. Both find the same entry, and longer words that start with it.

Chinese dictionary handwriting lookup: drawing 人 (rén) on the pad suggests matching characters — **Draw it**Seen a character you can’t type? Press the pen, draw it stroke by stroke, and tap the match.

FAQs

Is this Chinese dictionary free?

Yes. The whole Chinese dictionary is free: every search, every entry, the audio and the stroke-order practice, with no sign-up.

Where do the definitions come from?

The core HSK vocabulary in this Chinese dictionary uses WillyChina’s own meanings and pinyin, checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. The wider dictionary draws on CC-CEDICT, a community dictionary of more than 120,000 entries, tidied into Australian English.

Can I search without a Chinese keyboard?

Yes. The Chinese dictionary understands pinyin typed without tone marks, such as nihao, and English meanings too. You can also draw a character with the pen.

What do the HSK labels mean?

HSK is the official Chinese proficiency test. The green label shows which HSK level a word belongs to, from HSK 1 for beginners up to HSK 5. Words without a label are outside the HSK lists, often less common or more specialised.

Does it show Traditional characters?

Yes. Every entry in the Chinese dictionary shows the Simplified form, used in mainland China and Singapore, and the Traditional form, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. You can search with either.

Sources: core vocabulary from WillyChina’s HSK word lists, checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Wider dictionary data from CC-CEDICT, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer.