失 (shī) is a Chinese character meaning “to lose”. It is written from ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 夫 (man; husband), and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “to lose”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇒ + 夫
Overlapping structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 5 笔核验：第 1 笔短撇 ㇒ + 第 2–5 笔与 夫 的 4 笔逐笔一致）
Memory aid
A man (夫) stands with his arms out — and a short left-falling stroke (㇒) slips off his shoulder. Something he was holding has just slipped away: he lost it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 失去shī qùto lose; to be deprived of失 = shī
- 失败shī bàito fail; failure; defeat失 = shī
- 丢失diū shīto lose; to go missing失 = shī
- 丧失sàng shīto lose; to forfeit失 = shī
- 失控shī kòngto lose control; out of control失 = shī
- 失眠shī miánto suffer from insomnia; insomnia失 = shī
- 损失sǔn shīloss; to lose失 = shī
- 消失xiāo shīto disappear; to vanish失 = shī
- 迷失mí shīto lose (one's way); to go astray失 = shī
Go deeper
All readings
to lose
to lose; to let slip; to miss; to fail
丢掉，没有守住；也指没有做成、出了差错。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 失去shī qùto lose; to be deprived of失 = shī
- 失败shī bàito fail; failure; defeat失 = shī
- 丢失diū shīto lose; to go missing失 = shī
- 丧失sàng shīto lose; to forfeit失 = shī
- 失控shī kòngto lose control; out of control失 = shī
- 失眠shī miánto suffer from insomnia; insomnia失 = shī
- 损失sǔn shīloss; to lose失 = shī
- 消失xiāo shīto disappear; to vanish失 = shī
- 迷失mí shīto lose (one's way); to go astray失 = shī
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 失 mean?
失 (shī) means to lose; to let slip; to miss; to fail.
How do you pronounce 失?
It is pronounced shī.
What parts is 失 made of?
㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 夫 (man; husband). The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 5 笔核验：第 1 笔短撇 ㇒ + 第 2–5 笔与 夫 的 4 笔逐笔一致）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 失 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 失?
大. 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 失?
Common ones are 失去 and 失败. The reading of 失 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.