HSK 5 · Emotions

消极 xiāojí “negative” in Chinese

Traditional 消極

What 消极 means

  1. negative
  2. passive
  3. inactive

How to say 消极

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale消xiāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale极jí2nd tone, rising

消极 in a sentence

  1. 别那么消极，事情会好起来的。

    Bié nàme xiāojí, shìqing huì hǎo qǐlai de.

    Don’t be so negative; things will get better.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 他对工作的态度很消极。

    Tā duì gōngzuò de tàidu hěn xiāojí.

    He has a very negative attitude to work.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 消极 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 消 (xiāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
消xiāoto diminish; to subside
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 肖to resemble · xiàoSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 肖 (xiào) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiāo.

The character 极 (jí) with each of its parts in a different colour
极jíextremely
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part
  • 及to extend · jíSound part

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 及 (jí) hints at the sound. Compare it with jí.

How to write 消极

消 10 strokes · 极 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 消极

Words with 消

消息xiāoxi · news消化xiāohuà · to digest (food or information)取消qǔxiāo · to cancel消失xiāoshī · to disappear消费xiāofèi · to consume消毒xiāodú · to disinfect消除xiāochú · to eliminate消耗xiāohào · to consume消灭xiāomiè · to wipe out消防xiāofáng · firefighting

Words with 极

极jí · an extreme积极jījí · active极其jíqí · extremely太极拳tàijíquán · tai chi (taijiquan)北极běijí · the North Pole极端jíduān · extreme极限jíxiàn · limit

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

痛快tòngkuài · delighted微笑wēixiào · smile无奈wúnài · to have no alternative无所谓wúsuǒwèi · to not matter心理xīnlǐ · psychology幸运xìngyùn · fortunate遗憾yíhàn · regret勇气yǒngqì · courage

FAQs

消极 (xiāojí) means “negative” or “passive”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it xiāojí: xiāo with a 1st tone, then jí 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, 消极 is written 消極. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiaoji with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 消极 from the suggestions. Typing xiaoji into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
消极 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.