What 利害 means
- Severe
- terrible
- tough
These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 利害 will read it the same way this page does.
Recognise a piece of 利害 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.
Character by character
How to write 利害
Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.
Practise 利害 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.
利害 in a sentence
Every sentence on this site that uses 利害 is collected on the 利害 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.
Sounds the same as 利害
These are also written lihai without tone marks. Tones and context are what keep them apart — which is why the tone is part of the word, not an accent on it.
Train the difference in the Tone Trainer or the Similar Sounds Quiz.
Questions about 利害
What does 利害 mean in English?
利害 is pronounced lìhai and means Severe, terrible, tough.
How do you pronounce 利害?
利害 is lìhai in pinyin — written lihai without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.
What are the characters in 利害?
利害 is written with 2 characters: 利 (lì) Advantage (benefit - profit - interest), 害 (hài) Harm (kill). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.
Is 利害 an HSK word?
Yes — 利害 is on the official HSK 6 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 6 page.
Studied around the same time
Keep going
Translate a whole sentence containing 利害 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 6, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.
Browse the dictionary
Every word on this site links to its entry — tap any word in a graded reader, a translation result or an HSK list to land on a page like this one.
Dictionary index