凄 (qī) is a Chinese character meaning “cold and chilly”. It is written from 冫 (ice; two dots of ice) and 妻 (wife), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “bleak; chilly”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
冫 + 妻
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰冫妻，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：左「冫」2 笔 + 右「妻」8 笔 = 10 笔）；读音比对 妻 qī → 凄 qī；非字源解释
Memory aid
A wife (妻) left out on the ice (冫) — the scene feels cold, bleak and dreary. 妻 also gives the sound: qī.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 凄凉qī liángdesolate; dreary; miserable凄 = qī
- 凄惨qī cǎnmiserable; tragic凄 = qī
Go deeper
All readings
chilly; bleak; sad
cold and chilly; bleak, desolate; sad, miserable
寒冷；冷清、萧条；悲伤、凄惨。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 凄凉qī liángdesolate; dreary; miserable凄 = qī
- 凄惨qī cǎnmiserable; tragic凄 = qī
Sound component
妻 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 凄 mean?
凄 (qī) means cold and chilly; bleak, desolate; sad, miserable.
How do you pronounce 凄?
It is pronounced qī.
What parts is 凄 made of?
冫 (ice; two dots of ice) and 妻 (wife), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰冫妻，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：左「冫」2 笔 + 右「妻」8 笔 = 10 笔）；读音比对 妻 qī → 凄 qī；非字源解释. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 凄 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 凄?
冫. 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 凄?
Common ones are 凄凉 and 凄惨. The reading of 凄 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.