HSK 6 · Nature

悬崖峭壁 xuányáqiàobì “sheer cliff” in Chinese

Traditional 懸崖峭壁

What 悬崖峭壁 means

  1. sheer cliff
  2. precipice
  3. (idiom) sheer cliffs and precipitous rock faces

How to say 悬崖峭壁

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale悬xuán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale崖yá2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale峭qiào4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale壁bì4th tone, falling

悬崖峭壁 in a sentence

  1. 这条山路两边都是悬崖峭壁。

    Zhè tiáo shānlù liǎngbiān dōu shì xuányáqiàobì.

    This mountain road has sheer cliffs on both sides.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 山羊能在悬崖峭壁上走路。

    Shānyáng néng zài xuányáqiàobì shàng zǒulù.

    Goats can walk along sheer cliffs.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 悬崖峭壁 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 悬 (xuán) with each of its parts in a different colour
悬xuánto hang or suspend
  • 县county · xiàn
  • 心heart · xīn
The character 崖 (yá) with each of its parts in a different colour
崖yáprecipice; cliff
  • 山mountain · shān
  • 厓precipice · yá
The character 峭 (qiào) with each of its parts in a different colour
峭qiàohigh and steep
  • 山mountain · shānMeaning part
  • 肖to resemble · xiàoSound part

山 hints at the meaning (mountain); 肖 (xiào) hints at the sound. Compare it with qiào.

The character 壁 (bì) with each of its parts in a different colour
壁bìwall
  • 辟law · bìSound part
  • 土earth · tǔMeaning part

土 hints at the meaning (earth); 辟 (bì) hints at the sound. Compare it with bì.

How to write 悬崖峭壁

悬 11 strokes · 崖 11 strokes · 峭 10 strokes · 壁 16 strokes

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

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

Words related to 悬崖峭壁

Words with 悬

悬挂xuánguà · to hang悬殊xuánshū · very different悬念xuánniàn · suspense

Words with 峭

陡峭dǒuqiào · steep

Words with 壁

隔壁gébì · next door

More words: Nature & Environment

溪xī · stream霞xiá · rosy clouds汹涌xiōngyǒng · surging夕阳xīyáng · setting sun畜牧xùmù · animal husbandry严寒yánhán · bitter cold淹没yānmò · to submerge炎热yánrè · scorching hot (weather)

FAQs

悬崖峭壁 (xuányáqiàobì) means “sheer cliff” or “precipice”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it xuányáqiàobì: xuán with a 2nd tone, then yá with a 2nd tone, then qiào with a 4th tone, then bì 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, 悬崖峭壁 is written 懸崖峭壁. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xuanyaqiaobi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 悬崖峭壁 from the suggestions. Typing xuanyaqiaobi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
悬崖峭壁 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.