形

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to appear; to look; form; shape

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Sunlight 彡 streaming through a window 开

Components 开彡

shape · Heisig RSH #1304

two hands + rooster tail

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
无形中	wú xíng zhōng	imperceptibly; virtually
不定形	bù dìng xíng	indeterminate form
人形	rén xíng	human form; human-shaped; humanoid
山形	Shān xíng	Yamagata (prefecture and city in Japan)
地形	dì xíng	topography; terrain; landform
人字形	rén zì xíng	V-shape; chevron; herringbone
无形	wú xíng	incorporeal; virtual; formless; invisible (assets); intangible
全地形车	quán dì xíng chē	all-terrain vehicle (ATV)
形而上学	xíng ér shàng xué	metaphysics
有形	yǒu xíng	material; tangible; visible; shapely
长方形	cháng fāng xíng	rectangle
形上	xíng shàng	metaphysics
分形	fēn xíng	fractal
形体	xíng tǐ	figure; physique; form and structure
体形	tǐ xíng	figure; bodily form
面形	miàn xíng	shape of face
之字形	zhī zì xíng	Z-shaped; zigzag
口形	kǒu xíng	variant of 口型[kou3 xing2]
形式主义	xíng shì zhǔ yì	formalism (in philosophy, art, or literary theory); excessive concern with form over subst…
三角形	sān jiǎo xíng	triangle