厉害

厉害 lìhài

Severe (terrible - tough)

厉害 in a sentence HSK 4 繁體 厲害 lihai

What 厉害 means

  1. 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 厉害 will read it the same way this page does.

Recognise a piece of 厉害 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

厉害 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

厉
lì
Severe (strict - terrible)
害
hài
Harm (kill)

How to write 厉害

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 厉害 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

厉害 in a sentence

他的汉语说得真厉害。
Tā de Hànyǔ shuō de zhēn lìhai.
His Chinese is really impressive.
今天雨下得很厉害。
Jīntiān yǔ xià de hěn lìhai.
It is raining hard today.

Every sentence on this site that uses 厉害 is collected on the 厉害 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Sounds the same as 厉害

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 厉害

What does 厉害 mean in English?

厉害 is pronounced lìhài and means Severe (terrible - tough).

How do you pronounce 厉害?

厉害 is lìhài 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 厉害?

厉害 is written with 2 characters: 厉 (lì) Severe (strict - terrible), 害 (hài) Harm (kill). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 厉害 written in traditional Chinese?

厲害. The simplified form 厉害 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 厲害 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced lìhài.

Is 厉害 an HSK word?

Yes — 厉害 is on the official HSK 4 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 4 page.

Studied around the same time

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Translate a whole sentence containing 厉害 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 4, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

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