HSK 6 · Verbs

挑衅 tiǎoxìn “to provoke” in Chinese

Traditional 挑釁

What 挑衅 means

  1. to provoke
  2. provocation

How to say 挑衅

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale挑tiǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale衅xìn4th tone, falling

挑衅 in a sentence

  1. 他是个挑衅高手。

    Tā shì ge tiǎoxìn gāoshǒu.

    He’s a master of provocation.

    Sentence #566530 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 萨米对顾客变得更加挑衅了。

    Sàmǐ duì gùkè biàn de gèngjiā tiǎoxìn le.

    Sami became more confrontational with customers.

    Sentence #8589277 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 挑衅 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 挑 (tiǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
挑tiǎoto raise
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 兆omen · zhàoSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 兆 (zhào) hints at the sound. Compare it with tiǎo.

The character 衅 (xìn) with each of its parts in a different colour
衅xìnquarrel
  • 血blood · xuèMeaning part
  • 半half · bànSound part

血 hints at the meaning (blood); 半 (bàn) hints at the sound. Compare it with xìn.

How to write 挑衅

挑 9 strokes · 衅 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 挑衅

Words with 挑

挑战tiǎozhàn · to challenge挑拨tiǎobō · to stir up trouble挑剔tiāoti · fussy

More words: Common Verbs

舔tiǎn · to lick调和tiáohé · to reconcile调剂tiáojì · to adjust调节tiáojié · to adjust停顿tíngdùn · to pause推翻tuīfān · to overthrow涂抹túmǒ · to smear脱离tuōlí · to break away from

FAQs

挑衅 (tiǎoxìn) means “to provoke” or “provocation”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it tiǎoxìn: tiǎo with a 3rd tone, then xìn with a 4th 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, 挑衅 is written 挑釁. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tiaoxin with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 挑衅 from the suggestions. Typing tiaoxin into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
挑衅 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.