材
Tap the pinyin to hear it
material; timber; ability; aptitude; a capable individual; coffin (old)
- HSK 3.0
- Level 3
- Old HSK
- Level 4
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 木 +3
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 材
- Common rank
- #1,255
- Unicode
- U+6750
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
Words with 材
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大材小用 | (idiom) to use a talented person in a role far beneath their ability; a waste of talent | |
| 反面教材 | negative example; sth that teaches one what not to do | |
| 生物材料 | bio-materials | |
| 高材生 | top student; high achiever; student of outstanding ability | |
| 不成材 | worthless; good-for-nothing | |
| 材料科学 | materials science | |
| 放射性材料 | radioactive material | |
| 复合材料 | composite material | |
| 材料学 | materials science | |
| 五短身材 | (of a person) short in stature | |
| 多层材 | plywood | |
| 圆形木材 | log | |
| 可裂变材料 | fissionable material | |
| 就地取材 | to draw on local resources; using materials at hand | |
| 原材料 | raw and semifinished materials | |
| 不材 | (literary) (of a tree) useless for lumber; variant of 不才[bu4 cai2] | |
| 人材 | variant of 人才[ren2 cai2] | |
| 心材 | pith; central core (of tree) | |
| 视听材料 | evidence of material seen and heard; oral testimony | |
| 高材 | great talent; rare capability; person of outstanding ability |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 才 — compare how they read.