凶

Tap the pinyin to hear it

terrible; fearful

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A container 凵 of wickedness 乂

Components 凵乂

cruel · Heisig RSH #1174

sheaf + pit

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
行凶者	xíng xiōng zhě	perpetrator
凶巴巴	xiōng bā bā	harsh; savage; fierce
凶多吉少	xiōng duō jí shǎo	(lit.) everything bodes ill, no positive signs (idiom); (fig.) inauspicious; everything po…
行凶	xíng xiōng	violent crime; to commit a violent act (assault or murder)
凶手	xiōng shǒu	murderer; assassin
凶事	xiōng shì	fateful accident; inauspicious matter (involving death or casualties)
凶器	xiōng qì	lethal weapon; murder weapon
凶神	xiōng shén	demon; fiend
凶光	xiōng guāng	ominous glint
凶相	xiōng xiàng	ferocious appearance
凶年	xiōng nián	year of famine
凶死	xiōng sǐ	to die in violence
凶身	xiōng shēn	murderer; killer
凶信	xiōng xìn	fateful news; news of sb's death
凶杀案	xiōng shā àn	murder case
元凶	yuán xiōng	chief offender; main culprit
穷凶极恶	qióng xiōng jí è	fiendish; black-hearted
凶服	xiōng fú	mourning clothes (old)
真凶	zhēn xiōng	culprit
吉凶	jí xiōng	good and bad luck (in astrology)

These characters use 凶 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
凶 sound part	xiōng	culprit; murder; bad, sad
匈	xiōng	breast, chest, thorax; to clamor; Hungary
汹	xiōng	turbulent, torrential, restless
垴	nǎo	small hillock, used in place names