HSK 4 · Adjectives

厉害 lìhai “impressive” in Chinese

Traditional 厲害

What 厉害 means

  1. impressive
  2. amazing
  3. also: severe, fierce
  4. (used to describe sb or sth that makes a very strong impression, whether favourable or unfavorable) terrible
  5. intense
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • severe
  • devastating
  • awesome
  • outstanding
  • (of a person) stern
  • strict

How to say 厉害

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale厉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

厉害 in a sentence

  1. 她游泳很厉害。

    Tā yóuyǒng hěn lìhai.

    She’s a brilliant swimmer.

    Sentence #2032131 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他的羽毛球打得真厉害。

    Tā de yǔmáoqiú dǎ de zhēn lìhai.

    He’s really good at badminton.

    Sentence #12568849 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我头疼得特别厉害。

    Wǒ tóuténg de tèbié lìhai.

    I’ve got a terrible headache.

    Sentence #6956888 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 厉害 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 厉 (lì) with each of its parts in a different colour
厉lìstrict
  • 厂cliff · hǎn
  • 万ten thousand · mò
The character 害 (hài) with each of its parts in a different colour
害hàito do harm tolight in 厉害
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 丰abundant · fēng
  • 口mouth · kǒu

How to write 厉害

厉 5 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.

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

Words related to 厉害

Words with 厉

严厉yánlì · strict再接再厉zàijiēzàilì · to keep up the good work

Words with 害

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

More words: Adjectives

困难kùnnan · difficult懒lǎn · lazy冷静lěngjìng · calm礼貌lǐmào · courtesy凉快liángkuai · nice and cold流利liúlì · fluent流行liúxíng · popular乱luàn · in confusion or disorder

FAQs

厉害 (lìhai) means “impressive” or “amazing”. It is an HSK 4 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 厉害 is written 厲害. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lihai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 厉害 from the suggestions. Typing lihai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
厉害 is an HSK 4 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.