自戕

zìqiāng
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to commit suicide
  2. 2 to take one's own life
  3. 3 to harm oneself

Examples

HSK 5
Tā zài juéwàng zhōng xuǎnzé le zìqiāng.
In despair, he chose to take his own life.
HSK 7-9
Chángqī áoyè wúyìyú zìqiāng.
Habitually staying up all night is no different from self-destruction.

Tips

register
Highly literary. In modern speech use 自杀 for 'commit suicide.' 自戕 is found in essays, news editorials, and historical writing - it carries a tone of self-inflicted ruin, sometimes used metaphorically (e.g. 经济自戕 'economic self-harm').
memory
means 'to slay' - note the (dagger-axe) on the right. 自戕 is literally 'to slay oneself,' a gravely formal way to phrase what 自杀 says plainly.

Stroke Order

qiāng