先烈

xiānliè
noun #59,319

Meanings

  1. 1 martyrs
  2. 2 fallen heroes of an earlier generation

Examples

HSK 6
Jīntiān de hépíng shēnghuó shì wúshù xiānliè yòng shēngmìng huànlái de.
Today's peaceful life was paid for with the lives of countless martyrs.
HSK 7-9
Qīngmíngjié, xuéshengmen qù lièshìlíngyuán jìdiàn gémìng xiānliè.
At Qingming the students go to the martyrs' cemetery to honour the revolutionary martyrs.

Tips

usage
先 'earlier; departed' + 烈 'heroic'. 先烈 looks back at the fallen of earlier times and nearly always comes as 革命先烈; a martyr in general, including a recent one, is 烈士.

Stroke Order

先 xiān
烈 liè