直 (zhí): straight; direct

Meanings

1 straight; direct
2 frank; straightforward
3 continuously; all along

Characters

直

zhí

straight; direct; frank

Contains 目 (eye) with a vertical line — looking straight ahead with the eye.

Examples

这条路很直。

Zhè tiáo lù hěn zhí.

This road is very straight.

他说话很直。

Tā shuōhuà hěn zhí.

He speaks very frankly.

我直走到路口。

Wǒ zhí zǒu dào lùkǒu.

I walked straight to the intersection.

Tips

grammar

直 as an adverb means "continuously/straight": 一直 ("all along"), 直到 ("until"), 直接 ("directly").

usage

直男 literally "straight man" — internet slang for a man who is oblivious to romance or social cues.

Components

radical

目 mù

eye

Middle eye — also the indexing radical (Kangxi #109). Pictograph of an eye with pupil. Same radical anchors 看 to look, 睡 to sleep, 眼 eye, 真 truly. With the sight-line above and the underline below, 目 is staring fixedly straight ahead — the literal picture of looking "straight at" something.

ideograph

十 shí

ten; cross

Top horizontal-and-vertical cross — historically a stylised vertical sight-line drawn above an eye, an arrow of vision pointing dead ahead. The two crossing strokes mark the line of sight: looking straight without deviation. The number-ten reading is unrelated; here 十 is being repurposed as a directional indicator.

ideograph

一 yī

one; baseline

Bottom horizontal — a baseline closing the picture. The flat line under the eye reinforces the straightness: the gaze runs parallel to the ground, level and direct. From this whole image of a level eye sighting straight came the meanings "straight, vertical, frank, direct."