刺 (cì) · thorn; splinter

Meanings

1 thorn; splinter
2 to stab; to pierce; to prick
3 to assassinate; to murder
4 to irritate; to sting
5 to satirize; to mock

Characters

刺

cì

thorn; to stab; to pierce

Phono-semantic compound: 朿 (thorn) supplies sound AND meaning, 刂 (knife) supplies the cutting action.

Examples

HSK 5

小心，玫瑰花有刺。

Xiǎoxīn, méiguīhuā yǒu cì.

Be careful, roses have thorns.

HSK 5

他的话很刺耳。

Tā de huà hěn cì'ěr.

His words were harsh and grating.

HSK 6

阳光刺得我睁不开眼。

Yángguāng cì de wǒ zhēngbukāi yǎn.

The sunlight was so glaring I couldn't open my eyes.

Tips

usage

As a noun 刺 is anything sharp and pointed - a thorn, a fishbone, a splinter. As a verb it covers the full arc of pointed action: physical (刺杀 to assassinate, 刺绣 to embroider), sensory (刺眼 glaring, 刺鼻 pungent), and verbal (讽刺 to satirize, 讥刺 to mock). The thread is the same: something sharp making contact.

memory

Picture a thorny branch (朿) next to a side-knife (刂): thorn + blade = anything sharp pressed into flesh. The phonetic also carries the meaning, so the whole character is doubly anchored on the idea of piercing.

Components

radical

刂 lìdāopáng

knife (right-form)

Right knife radical, the side-form of 刀 used at the right edge. Supplies the cutting action: to stab, pierce, prick - the sharp end of any blade. Combined with the thorn on the left, the whole character is a compact image of something sharp pressed into flesh. Joins 切, 划, 割, 削 in the blade-action family.

phonetic

朿 cì

thorn

Left 朿 is the thorn graph - 木 (tree) wrapped by a barb-like outline, picturing a thorny branch. It supplies both the sound (exact match cì, no drift) AND a reinforcing meaning: thorns prick. Rare phono-semantic where the phonetic doubles as semantic. Same series: 策 (whip), 棘 (jujube thorn).

In Pop Culture

刺猬乐队 Cìwei Yuèduì

Hedgehog (Beijing indie rock trio, formed 2005)

Long-running Chinese indie band - drummer Shi Lu's story anchored the 2019 hit film 《缝纫机乐队》 and the 2021 Sundance documentary 《吉祥如意》.

雪糕刺客 xuěgāo cìkè

'ice-cream assassin' - innocent-looking ice cream priced shockingly high at the till

2022 Chinese internet slang for a freezer-aisle scam: cheap-looking ice cream that turns out to cost 20+ yuan. Spawned the 刺客 (assassin) suffix for any product that ambushes your wallet - water-bottle assassin, fruit assassin, etc.