魁

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chief; head; outstanding; exceptional; stalwart

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

One who fought 斗 a ghost 鬼; 鬼 also provides the pronunciation

Components 鬼斗

leader · Heisig RSH #2930

鬼 ghost + 斗 Big Dipper

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
魁北克市	Kuí běi kè shì	Quebec city, capital of Quebec province of Canada
魁北克	Kuí běi kè	Quebec province, Canada
易洛魁	Yì luò kuí	Iroquois
祸首罪魁	huò shǒu zuì kuí	see 罪魁禍首\|罪魁祸首[zui4 kui2 huo4 shou3]
罪魁祸首	zuì kuí huò shǒu	(idiom) criminal ringleader; main offender; main culprit; main cause of a disaster
花魁	huā kuí	the queen of flowers (refers esp. to plum blossom); (fig.) nickname for a famous beauty or…
魁星	Kuí xīng	stars of the Big Dipper that constitute the rectangular body of the dipper; Kuixing, Daois…
魁元	kuí yuán	brightest and best; chief; first among peers
魁星阁	Kuí xīng gé	temple to Kuixing, Daoist God of fate
临魁	Lín kuí	Linkui (c. 2000 BC), second of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Sh…
魁首	kuí shǒu	chief; first; brightest and best
罪魁	zuì kuí	criminal ringleader; chief culprit; fig. cause of a problem
党魁	dǎng kuí	party boss
夺魁	duó kuí	to win the championship; to take first place
魁伟	kuí wěi	tall and big; stalwart
渠魁	qú kuí	rebel leader; ringleader; bandit chieftain
魁梧	kuí wú	tall and sturdy
魁蚶	kuí hān	arc clam (Arca inflata)

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
魁 sound part	kuí	chief, leader; best; monstrous
櫆	kuí	Polaris, the north star