HSK 2 · Adjectives

最 zuì “most” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 最 means

  1. most
  2. (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree
  3. -est
  4. (after 之) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最 “the greatest in the world”)

How to say 最

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale最zuì4th tone, falling

最 in a sentence

  1. 你最喜欢什么水果？

    Nǐ zuì xǐhuan shénme shuǐguǒ?

    What’s your favourite fruit?

    Sentence #336927 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他在他班里学习最努力。

    Tā zài tā bān lǐ xuéxí zuì nǔlì.

    He works the hardest in his class.

    Sentence #333675 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 去您那儿怎么走最方便？

    Qù nín nàr zěnme zǒu zuì fāngbiàn?

    What’s the easiest way to get to your place?

    Sentence #3493093 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 最 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 最 (zuì) with each of its parts in a different colour
最zuìto the highest degree; most …; -est
  • 日sun · rì
  • 取to take · qǔ

How to write 最

最 12 strokes

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

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

Words related to 最

Words with 最

最后zuìhòu · last最近zuìjìn · recently最好zuìhǎo · best最终zuìzhōng · final最初zuìchū · at first

More words: Adjectives

忙máng · busy错cuò · wrong真zhēn · true非常fēicháng · extremely晴qíng · sunny阴yīn · cloudy好吃hǎochī · delicious白色báisè · white

FAQs

最 (zuì) means “most” or “(before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it zuì: zuì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 最 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zui with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 最 from the suggestions. Typing zui into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
最 is an HSK 2 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.