灰

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ash; dust; lime; gray; discouraged; dejected

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

The remains of a fire 火; 火 also provides the pronunciation

Components 火 ? unknown part

ashes · Heisig RSH #172

火 fire + fireplace + by one’s side

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
生石灰	shēng shí huī	calcium oxide CaO; quicklime
火山灰	huǒ shān huī	volcanic ash
灰白色	huī bái sè	ash gray
火山灰土	huǒ shān huī tǔ	andosol (soil taxonomy)
灰色地带	huī sè dì dài	gray area
石灰石	shí huī shí	limestone
红头灰雀	hóng tóu huī què	(bird species of China) red-headed bullfinch (Pyrrhula erythrocephala)
面如灰土	miàn rú huī tǔ	ashen-faced (idiom)
灰水	huī shuǐ	gray water
灰心	huī xīn	to lose heart; to be discouraged
放射性落下灰	fàng shè xìng luò xià huī	radioactive fallout
灰白	huī bái	ash-colored
石灰华	shí huī huá	travertine (geology); tufa (a type of banded marble)
石灰	shí huī	lime (calcium oxide)
草木灰	cǎo mù huī	plant ash
灰色	huī sè	gray; ash gray; grizzly; pessimistic; gloomy; dispirited; ambiguous
心灰意冷	xīn huī yì lěng	discouraged; downhearted
灰头土脸	huī tóu tǔ liǎn	head and face filthy with grime (idiom); covered in dirt; dejected and depressed
灰头灰雀	huī tóu huī què	(bird species of China) grey-headed bullfinch (Pyrrhula erythaca)
灰度	huī dù	grayscale

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
灰 sound part	huī	ashes; dust; lime, mortar
恢	huī	to restore, to recover; great, immense, vast
盔	kuī	helmet; bowl, basin
诙	huī	to tease, to joke with; to ridicule, to mock
咴	huī	to neigh, to whinny