HSK 7-9 Vocabulary List with Pinyin

5,595 words from the advanced band, levels 7-9 of HSK 3.0, the nine-level standard for Chinese proficiency, with pinyin and English translation.

ChinesePinyinTranslationActions
掉头掉頭diào tóuto turn one's head / to turn round / to turn aboutsyn
吊销吊銷diào xiāoto suspend (an agreement) / to revokesyn
diēdadsyn
跌幅diē fúdecline (in value) / extent of a drop
diéto fold / to fold over in layers / to furl / to layer / to pile up / to repeat / to duplicatesyn
diédish / platesyn
迭起dié qǐcontinuously arising / to arise repeatedlysyn
dīngmale adult / the 4th of the 10 Heavenly Stems 天干[tian1gan1] / fourth (used like "4" or "D") / small cube of meat or vegetable / (literary) to encounter / (archaic) ancient Chinese compass point: 195° / (chemistry) butylsyn
dīngto watch attentively / to fix one's attention on / to stare at / to gaze atsyn
叮嘱叮囑dīng zhǔto warn repeatedly / to urge / to exhort again and againsyn
钉子釘子dīng zinail / snag / saboteursyn
顶多頂多dǐng duōat most / at bestsyn
顶级頂級dǐng jítop-notch / first-ratesyn
顶尖頂尖dǐng jiānpeak / apex / world best / number one / finest (competitors) / top (figures in a certain field)syn
dìngto join things together by fixing them in place at one or more points / to nail / to pin / to staple / to sew onsyn
订购訂購dìng gòuto place an order / to subscribesyn
定金dìng jīndown payment / advance payment
定居dìng jūto settle (in some city, country etc) / to take up residencesyn
订立訂立dìng lìto conclude (treaty, contract, agreement etc) / to set up (a rule etc)syn
定律dìng lǜscientific law (e.g. law of conservation of energy) / (in human affairs) a generalization based on observation (e.g. "power corrupts")syn
定论定論dìng lùnfinal conclusion / accepted argumentsyn
定向dìng xiàngto orientate / directional / directed / orienteering
定心丸dìng xīn wántranquilizer / sth that sets one's mind at ease
订阅訂閱dìng yuèsubscription / to subscribe to
定做dìng zuòto have something made to order
丢脸丟臉diū liǎnto lose face / humiliationsyn
丢弃丟棄diū qìto discard / to abandonsyn
丢人丟人diū rénto lose facesyn
丢三落四丟三落四diū sān là sìforgetful / empty-headedsyn
东奔西走東奔西走dōng bēn xī zǒuto run this way and that (idiom) / to rush about busily / to bustle about / to hopscotch / also 東跑西顛|东跑西颠[dong1 pao3 xi1 dian1]syn
东道主東道主dōng dào zhǔhost / official host (e.g. venue for games or a conference)syn
东张西望東張西望dōng zhāng xī wàngto look in all directions (idiom) / to glance aroundsyn
董事dǒng shìboard member
懂事dǒng shìto grow beyond the naivete of childhood / to be aware of what is going on in the world / (esp. of a child) sensible / thoughtful / intelligentsyn
董事会董事會dǒng shì huìboard of directors
董事长董事長dǒng shì zhǎngchairman of the board of directors
动不动動不動dòng bu dòng(typically followed by 就[jiu4]) apt to (lose one's temper, catch a cold etc) / at the drop of a hatsyn
动荡動蕩dòng dàngunrest (social or political) / turmoil / upheaval / commotionsyn
动感動感dòng gǎnsense of movement (often in a static work of art) / dynamic / vivid / lifelikesyn
动工動工dòng gōngto start (a building project)syn
冻结凍結dòng jiéto freeze (water etc) / (fig.) to freeze (assets, prices etc)syn
动静動靜dòng jìng(detectable) movement / (sign of) activity / movement and stillnesssyn
栋梁棟梁dòng liángridgepole / ridgepole and beams / person able to bear heavy responsibility / mainstay (of organization) / pillar (of state)syn
动脉動脈dòng màiartery
动身動身dòng shēnto go on a journey / to leavesyn
动弹動彈dòng tanto budgesyn
动向動向dòng xiàngtrend / tendencysyn
洞穴dòng xuécave / cavernsyn
动摇動搖dòng yáoto sway / to waver / to rock / to rattle / to destabilize / to pose a challenge tosyn
动用動用dòng yòngto utilize / to put sth to usesyn
动员動員dòng yuánto mobilize / mobilization / CL:次[ci4]syn
dōuold variant of 兜[dou1]syn
兜售dōu shòuto hawk / to peddlesyn
dǒuto tremble / to shake out / to reveal / to make it in the worldsyn
dǒusteep / precipitous / abrubtly / suddenly / unexpectedlysyn
陡峭dǒu qiàoprecipitoussyn
dòuvariant of 鬥|斗[dou4]syn
逗留dòu liúto stay for a while / to sojournsyn
斗志鬥志dòu zhìwill to fight / fighting spiritsyn
豆子dòu zibean / pea / CL:顆|颗[ke1]syn
督促dū cùto supervise and urge completion of a task / to urge onsyn
都会都會dū huìcity / metropolissyn
alone / independent / single / sole / onlysyn
独家獨家dú jiāexclusivesyn
毒品dú pǐndrugs / narcotics / poisonsyn
独身獨身dú shēnunmarried / single / alonesyn
读物讀物dú wùreading material
独一无二獨一無二dú yī wú èrunique and unmatched (idiom) / unrivalled / nothing compares with itsyn
to bet / to gamblesyn
赌博賭博dǔ bóto gamblesyn
堵塞dǔ sèto clog up / blockagesyn
杜绝杜絕dù juéto put an end tosyn
端正duān zhèngupright / regular / proper / correctsyn
短暂短暫duǎn zànof short duration / brief / momentarysyn
断定斷定duàn dìngto conclude / to determine / to come to a judgmentsyn
断断续续斷斷續續duàn duàn xù xùintermittent / off and on / discontinuous / stop-go / stammering / disjointed / inarticulatesyn
断绝斷絕duàn juéto sever / to break offsyn
断裂斷裂duàn lièfracture / rupture / to break apartsyn
段落duàn luòphase / time interval / paragraph / (written) passagesyn
断然斷然duàn ránresolute / definitive / categorically / absolutelysyn
断章取义斷章取義duàn zhāng qǔ yìto quote out of context (idiom)syn
堆积堆積duī jīto pile up / to heap / accumulationsyn
堆砌duī qìlit. to pile up (bricks) / to pack / fig. to pad out (writing with fancy phrases) / ornate rhetoricsyn
duìto cash / to exchange / to add (liquid) / to blend / one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[ba1 gua4], symbolizing swamp / syn
对岸對岸duì ànopposite bank (of a body of water)syn
对白對白duì báidialogue (in a movie or a play)
对策對策duì cècountermeasure for dealing with a situationsyn
对得起對得起duì de qǐnot to let sb down / to treat sb fairly / be worthy ofsyn
对付對付duì futo handle / to deal with / to tackle / to get by with / to make do / (dialect) (usu. used in the negative) to get along with (sb)syn
兑换兌換duì huànto convert / to exchangesyn
对联對聯duì liánrhyming couplet / pair of lines of verse written vertically down the sides of a doorway / CL:副[fu4],幅[fu2]syn
对流對流duì liúconvection
对牛弹琴對牛彈琴duì niú tán qínlit. to play the lute to a cow (idiom) / fig. offering a treat to an unappreciative audience / to cast pearls before swine / caviar to the general / to preach to deaf ears / to talk over sb's headsyn
兑现兌現duì xiàn(of a check etc) to cash / to honor a commitmentsyn
队形隊形duì xíngformation
对弈對弈duì yìto play go, chess etcsyn
对照對照duì zhàoto contrast / to compare / to place side by side for comparison (as parallel texts) / to checksyn
对症下药對症下藥duì zhèng xià yàolit. to prescribe the right medicine for an illness (idiom) / fig. to study a problem to find the right way to solve it / to take appropriate steps
对峙對峙duì zhì(of mountains etc) to stand facing each other / (fig.) to confront each othersyn
敦促dūn cùto press / to urge / to hastensyn
The four tones The four tones of Mandarin Pitch over time: tone 1 high and level (red), tone 2 rising (orange), tone 3 falling then rising (green), tone 4 falling (blue). tone 1 tone 2 tone 3 tone 4 Time Pitch

What the advanced band of HSK 3.0 covers

HSK 3.0 is the revision of the Chinese proficiency test published in March 2021 by China's Ministry of Education and its National Language Commission. It replaces six levels with nine, grouped in three bands: elementary (1 to 3), intermediate (4 to 6) and advanced (7 to 9). The vocabulary of the whole scheme comes to roughly eleven thousand words, against about five thousand at the top of the old six-level system.

The advanced band is one exam, not three. Every candidate sits the same paper, and the score decides whether they are placed at level 7, level 8, level 9 or none of them. It has been running worldwide since November 2022, several years before the lower bands were revised in their turn, and it is taken on a computer only.

The list below is the vocabulary the advanced band adds on top of the first six levels — the words numbered from 5401 upward in the official standard, in the alphabetical order by pinyin that the published list uses. It is more than half of the entire vocabulary of the nine-level scheme, which is why the step up to this band is measured in years.

Every word links to its dictionary entry, where you will find the full definition, the traditional form, the audio pronunciation and example sentences.

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