HSK 5 · Verbs

刺激 cìjī “to stimulate” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 刺激 means

  1. to stimulate
  2. to provoke
  3. exciting
  4. to irritate
  5. to upset
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to excite
  • irritant

How to say 刺激

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale刺cì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale激jī1st tone, high and level

刺激 in a sentence

  1. 你今年做的最刺激的事是什么？

    Nǐ jīnnián zuò de zuì cìjī de shì shì shénme?

    What’s the most exciting thing you’ve done this year?

    Sentence #13046619 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 减税常被用作刺激经济的主要财政手段。

    Jiǎnshuì cháng bèi yòngzuò cìjī jīngjì de zhǔyào cáizhèng shǒuduàn.

    Tax cuts are often used as a major fiscal tool to stimulate the economy.

    Sentence #797515 from Tatoeba

  3. 刺激 can also mean “excitement” or “a thrill”

    有些人喜欢循规蹈矩，而有些人总喜欢寻求刺激。

    Yǒuxiē rén xǐhuan xúnguīdǎojǔ, ér yǒuxiē rén zǒng xǐhuan xúnqiú cìjī.

    Some people prefer to play by the rules, while others are always looking for excitement.

    Sentence #4549647 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 刺激 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 刺 (cì) with each of its parts in a different colour
刺cìthorn
  • 朿thorn · cìSound part
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāoMeaning part

刂 hints at the meaning (knife); 朿 (cì) hints at the sound. Compare it with cì.

The character 激 (jī) with each of its parts in a different colour
激jīto arouse
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 敫ancient musical instrument · jiǎoSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 敫 (jiǎo) hints at the sound. Compare it with jī.

How to write 刺激

刺 8 strokes · 激 16 strokes

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

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

Words related to 刺激

Words with 刺

讽刺fěngcì · to satirise刺cì · thorn

Words with 激

激动jīdòng · excited激烈jīliè · (of competition or fighting) intense感激gǎnjī · to be grateful冰激凌bīngjīlíng · ice cream激发jīfā · to arouse激励jīlì · to encourage激情jīqíng · passion

More words: Common Verbs

传播chuánbō · to disseminate闯chuǎng · to rush创造chuàngzào · to create吹chuī · to blow促进cùjìn · to promote (an idea or cause)促使cùshǐ · to induce催cuī · to urge存在cúnzài · to exist

FAQs

刺激 (cìjī) means “to stimulate” or “to provoke”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it cìjī: cì with a 4th tone, then jī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 刺激 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ciji with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 刺激 from the suggestions. Typing ciji into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
刺激 is an HSK 5 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.