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刻 — quarter; moment; to carve

quarter; moment; to carve; to engrave; to cut; oppressive

Pinyin
kè
Strokes
8
HSK level
HSK 3
Handwriting
required

How to write 刻: 8 strokes

Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. This character is on the HSK handwriting list, so the exam expects you to write it, not only recognise it.

刻 — 8 strokes, in writing order from left to right.

Build a printable practice sheet with 刻

Words with 刻 in the HSK syllabus: 13

Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.

  1. 刻kèquarter; moment; to carve; to engrave; to cutHSK 3
  2. 立刻lìkèimmediately; at once; right awayHSK 5
  3. 深刻shēnkèprofound; deep; deep-goingHSK 5
  4. 时刻shíkètime; juncture; moment; period of time; constantlyHSK 5
  5. 此刻cǐkèthis moment; now; at presentHSK 6
  6. 片刻piànkèshort period of time; a momentHSK 6
  7. 雕刻diāokèto carve; to engrave; carvingHSK 7–9
  8. 苛刻kēkèharsh; severe; demandingHSK 7–9
  9. 刻不容缓kèbùrónghuǎnto brook no delay; to demand immediate actionHSK 7–9
  10. 刻画kèhuàto portrayHSK 7–9
  11. 刻苦kèkǔhardworking; assiduousHSK 7–9
  12. 刻意kèyìintentionally; deliberately; purposelyHSK 7–9
  13. 刻舟求剑kèzhōu-qiújiànlit. a notch on the side of a boat to locate a sword dropped overboard; fig. an action made pointless by changed circumstancesHSK 7–9

Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.