屎 (shǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “excrement”. It is written from 尸 (corpse) and 米 (rice (uncooked grains)), one enclosing the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “excrement, poop”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
尸 + 米
Enclosing structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-2 尸 / 3-8 米）
Memory aid
Under the body (尸) sits what is left of the rice (米) it ate — that leftover is poop.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 拉屎lā shǐto poop; to defecate (colloquial)屎 = shǐ
- 狗屎gǒu shǐdog poop; (vulgar) rubbish, nonsense屎 = shǐspoken asgóu shǐ
Go deeper
All readings
excrement
excrement; feces; poop; (of the eye or ear) secretion
大便；粪便。也指眼、耳等器官分泌出的东西，如「眼屎」「耳屎」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 拉屎lā shǐto poop; to defecate (colloquial)屎 = shǐ
- 狗屎gǒu shǐdog poop; (vulgar) rubbish, nonsense屎 = shǐspoken asgóu shǐ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 屎 mean?
屎 (shǐ) means excrement; feces; poop; (of the eye or ear) secretion.
How do you pronounce 屎?
It is pronounced shǐ.
What parts is 屎 made of?
尸 (corpse) and 米 (rice (uncooked grains)), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-2 尸 / 3-8 米）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 屎 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 屎?
尸. 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 屎?
Common ones are 拉屎 and 狗屎. The reading of 屎 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.