厉 (lì) is a Chinese character meaning “severe”. It is written from 厂 (factory; cliff radical) and 万 (ten thousand), one enclosing the other, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “severe; strict”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
厂 + 万
Enclosing structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5389 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (5 strokes = 厂 2 + 万 3)
Memory aid
Ten thousand (万) whetstones stacked under one cliff (厂). Anything ground that many times comes back sharp — and severe.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 厉害lì haiformidable; impressive; severe厉 = lì
- 严厉yán lìstern; strict; severe厉 = lì
Go deeper
All readings
severe; strict
severe; stern; strict; and colloquially, formidable or impressive
严格、猛烈；口语里也形容本领强、令人佩服。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 厉害lì haiformidable; impressive; severe厉 = lì
- 严厉yán lìstern; strict; severe厉 = lì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 厉 mean?
厉 (lì) means severe; stern; strict; and colloquially, formidable or impressive.
How do you pronounce 厉?
It is pronounced lì.
What parts is 厉 made of?
厂 (factory; cliff radical) and 万 (ten thousand), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5389 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (5 strokes = 厂 2 + 万 3). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 厉 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 厉?
厂. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 厉?
Common ones are 厉害 and 严厉. The reading of 厉 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.