HSK 6 · Verbs

摧残 cuīcán “to ruin” in Chinese

Traditional 摧殘

What 摧残 means

  1. to ruin
  2. to devastate
  3. to wreck
  4. to ravage

How to say 摧残

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale摧cuī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale残cán2nd tone, rising

摧残 in a sentence

  1. 长期熬夜会摧残身体。

    Chángqī áoyè huì cuīcán shēntǐ.

    Staying up late night after night can wreck your health.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 一场冰雹摧残了果园。

    Yì chǎng bīngbáo cuīcán le guǒyuán.

    A hailstorm devastated the orchard.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 摧残 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 摧 (cuī) with each of its parts in a different colour
摧cuīto break
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 崔high · cuīSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 崔 (cuī) hints at the sound. Compare it with cuī.

The character 残 (cán) with each of its parts in a different colour
残cánto destroy
  • 歹death · dǎiMeaning part
  • 戋small · jiānSound part

歹 hints at the meaning (death); 戋 (jiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with cán.

How to write 摧残

摧 14 strokes · 残 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 摧残

Words with 残

残疾cánjí · disability残留cánliú · to remain残酷cánkù · cruel残忍cánrěn · cruel

More words: Common Verbs

刺cì · thorn伺候cìhou · to serve凑合còuhe · to make do窜cuàn · to flee搓cuō · to rub (between the hands)搭dā · to put up打包dǎbāo · to pack up达成dáchéng · to reach (an agreement)

FAQs

摧残 (cuīcán) means “to ruin” or “to devastate”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it cuīcán: cuī with a 1st tone, then cán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 摧残 is written 摧殘. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type cuican with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 摧残 from the suggestions. Typing cuican into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
摧残 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.