腥 (xīng) · fishy (smell), raw meat smell, bloody smell

Meanings

1 fishy (smell)
2 raw meat smell
3 bloody smell

Characters

腥

xīng

fishy smell; raw meat smell

Examples

HSK 2

这条鱼有点腥。

Zhè tiáo yú yǒudiǎn xīng.

This fish smells a bit fishy.

HSK 7-9

用姜可以去腥。

Yòng jiāng kěyǐ qù xīng.

You can use ginger to remove the fishy smell.

Tips

usage

腥 describes the raw, fishy smell of seafood or meat. 去腥 (to remove the fishy smell) is a common cooking term. 血腥 (xuèxīng) means 'bloody/gory'.

memory

腥 = 月(meat radical) + 星(star/xīng). The meat radical tells you it's about meat/fish, and 星 gives the pronunciation.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; meat (radical form of 肉)

Left meat-flesh radical, the body-part form of 肉. Visually identical to 月 (moon) but semantically separate: it always points to flesh, organ, or animal-product meaning. It indexes 腥 in the meat-related family: 腐 rotten, 膻 mutton-smelling, 臊 fishy-sweat. 腥 is the raw-fish or raw-meat smell - the radical commits it to butcher-shop semantics.

phonetic

星 xīng

star (here phonetic)

Right side 星 supplies the sound directly: xīng. Same phonetic powers 醒 wake, 惺 awaken, 猩 ape. 星 itself is 日 (sun) over 生 (sprout) - a pinpoint of celestial light. Pure phonetic role here, but the contrast is memorable: an exotic celestial graph paired with a very earthy, slaughterhouse meaning. Star plus flesh equals the smell of raw fish.