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直 — straight; to straighten

straight; to straighten; fair and reasonable; frank

Pinyin
zhí · Zhí
Strokes
8
HSK level
HSK 3
Handwriting
required

This character has more than one reading — zhí, Zhí — and the pronunciation depends on the word it appears in. The list below gives the syllabus reading for each word.

How to write 直: 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.

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

Build a printable practice sheet with 直

Words with 直 in the HSK syllabus: 21

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. 一直yìzhístraight; continuously; always; all the way throughHSK 3
  2. 直到zhídàountilHSK 3
  3. 直接zhíjiēdirect; immediate; straightforwardHSK 4
  4. 简直jiǎnzhísimply; reallyHSK 5
  5. 直zhíZhi, fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer GodHSK 5
  6. 直播zhíbōto broadcast live; live broadcast; to livestreamHSK 5
  7. 垂直chuízhíperpendicular; verticalHSK 6
  8. 耿直gěngzhíhonest; frank; candidHSK 7–9
  9. 径直jìngzhídirectlyHSK 7–9
  10. 理直气壮lǐzhí-qìzhuàngin the right and self-confident; bold and confident with justice on one's sideHSK 7–9
  11. 勇往直前yǒngwǎng-zhíqiánto advance bravelyHSK 7–9
  12. 正直zhèngzhíupright; upstanding; honestHSK 7–9
  13. 直达zhídáto reach directlyHSK 7–9
  14. 直观zhíguāndirect observationHSK 7–9
  15. 直径zhíjìngdiameterHSK 7–9
  16. 直觉zhíjuéintuitionHSK 7–9
  17. 直升机zhíshēngjīhelicopterHSK 7–9
  18. 直视zhíshìto look straight atHSK 7–9
  19. 直线zhíxiànstraight line; sharplyHSK 7–9
  20. 直辖市zhíxiáshìmunicipality, namely: Beijing 北京, Tianjin 天津, Shanghai 上海 and Chongqing 重慶|重庆, the first level administrative subdivisionHSK 7–9
  21. 直至zhízhìlasting until; up tillHSK 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.