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.

Chinese	Pinyin	Translation	Actions
不下	bù xià	to be not less than (a certain quantity, amount etc)
不像话不像話	bù xiàng huà	unreasonable / shocking / outrageous	syn
不肖	bù xiào	(literary) unlike one's parents / degenerate / unworthy	syn
不屑	bù xiè	to disdain to do sth / to think sth not worth doing / to feel it beneath one's dignity	syn
不懈	bù xiè	untiring / unremitting / indefatigable	syn
不厌其烦不厭其煩	bù yàn qí fán	not to mind taking all the trouble (idiom) / to take great pains / to be very patient	syn
不亚于不亞於	bù yà yú	no less than / not inferior to
不翼而飞不翼而飛	bù yì ér fēi	to disappear without trace / to vanish all of a sudden / to spread fast / to spread like wildfire	syn
不亦乐乎不亦樂乎	bù yì lè hū	lit. isn't that a joy? (quote from Confucius) / fig. (jocular) extremely / awfully	syn
不正之风不正之風	bù zhèng zhī fēng	unhealthy tendency	syn
捕获捕獲	bǔ huò	to catch / to capture / to seize	syn
补给補給	bǔ jǐ	supply / replenishment / to replenish	syn
补救補救	bǔ jiù	to remedy	syn
哺乳	bǔ rǔ	breastfeeding / to suckle / to nurse	syn
捕食	bǔ shí	to prey on / to catch and feed on / to hunt for food
哺育	bǔ yù	to feed / (fig.) to nurture / to foster	syn
补助補助	bǔ zhù	to subsidize / subsidy / allowance	syn
捕捉	bǔ zhuō	to catch / to seize / to capture
不经意不經意	bù jīng yì	not paying attention / carelessly / by accident	syn
不予	bù yú	to withhold / to refuse	syn
不准	bù zhǔn	not to allow / to forbid / to prohibit	syn
不耻下问不恥下問	bù chǐ xià wèn	not feel ashamed to ask and learn from one's subordinates	syn
不辞而别不辭而別	bù cí ér bié	to leave without saying good-bye	syn
不得而知	bù dé ér zhī	unknown / unable to find out
不得已	bù dé yǐ	to act against one's will / to have no alternative but to / to have to / to have no choice / must	syn
不乏	bù fá	there is no lack of	syn
步伐	bù fá	pace / (measured) step / march	syn
不法	bù fǎ	lawless / illegal / unlawful	syn
不妨	bù fáng	there is no harm in / might as well	syn
不服	bù fú	not to accept sth / to want to have sth overruled or changed / to refuse to obey or comply / to refuse to accept as final / to remain unconvinced by / not to give in to	syn
不敢当不敢當	bù gǎn dāng	lit. I dare not (accept the honor) / fig. I don't deserve your praise / you flatter me	syn
不及	bù jí	to fall short of / not as good as / too late	syn
部件	bù jiàn	part / component	syn
不假思索	bù jiǎ sī suǒ	to act without taking time to think (idiom) / to react instantly / to fire from the hip	syn
不解	bù jiě	to not understand / to be puzzled by / indissoluble	syn
不景气不景氣	bù jǐng qì	slack / in a slump	syn
布局佈局	bù jú	arrangement / composition / layout / opening (chess jargon)	syn
不堪	bù kān	cannot bear / cannot stand / utterly / extremely	syn
不可或缺	bù kě huò quē	necessary / must have	syn
不可思议不可思議	bù kě sī yì	inconceivable (idiom) / unimaginable / unfathomable	syn
不了了之	bù liǎo liǎo zhī	to settle a matter by leaving it unsettled / to end up with nothing definite	syn
不免	bù miǎn	inevitably	syn
不平	bù píng	uneven / injustice / unfairness / wrong / grievance / indignant / dissatisfied	syn
不容	bù róng	must not / cannot / to not allow / cannot tolerate	syn
步入	bù rù	to step into / to enter
部首	bù shǒu	radical of a Chinese character
部署	bù shǔ	to dispose / to deploy / deployment	syn
不惜	bù xī	not stint / not spare / not hesitate (to do sth) / not scruple (to do sth)	syn
不相上下	bù xiāng shàng xià	equally matched / about the same	syn
不言而喻	bù yán ér yù	it goes without saying / it is self-evident	syn
不以为然不以為然	bù yǐ wéi rán	not to accept as correct (idiom) / to object / to disapprove / to take exception to	syn
不由得	bù yóu de	can't help / cannot but	syn
不由自主	bù yóu zì zhǔ	(idiom) can't help but / involuntarily	syn
不约而同不約而同	bù yuē ér tóng	(idiom) (of two or more people) to take the same action without prior consultation / (usu. used adverbially) all (or both) of them, independently / as if by prior agreement	syn
不折不扣	bù zhé bù kòu	a hundred percent / to the letter / out-and-out	syn
不知不觉不知不覺	bù zhī bù jué	unconsciously / unwittingly	syn
不知所措	bù zhī suǒ cuò	not knowing what to do (idiom) / at one's wits' end / embarrassed and at a complete loss	syn
猜想	cāi xiǎng	to guess / to conjecture / to suppose / (math.) hypothesis	syn
裁	cái	to cut out (as a dress) / to cut / to trim / to reduce / to diminish / to cut back (e.g. on staff) / decision / judgment	syn
裁定	cái dìng	ruling	syn
裁缝裁縫	cái feng	tailor / dressmaker	syn
才干才幹	cái gàn	ability / competence	syn
财经財經	cái jīng	finance and economics	syn
裁决裁決	cái jué	ruling / adjudication	syn
财力財力	cái lì	financial resources	syn
裁员裁員	cái yuán	to cut staff / to lay off employees	syn
财政財政	cái zhèng	finances (public) / financial
采採	cǎi	color / complexion / looks / variant of 彩[cai3] / variant of 採\|采[cai3]	syn
采矿採礦	cǎi kuàng	mining	syn
采摘採摘	cǎi zhāi	to pluck / to pick	syn
菜肴菜餚	cài yáo	vegetable and meat dishes / dish	syn
参见參見	cān jiàn	to refer to / see also / compare (cf.) / to pay respect to	syn
参谋參謀	cān móu	staff officer / to give advice	syn
参照參照	cān zhào	to consult a reference / to refer to (another document)	syn
残殘	cán	to destroy / to spoil / to ruin / to injure / cruel / oppressive / savage / brutal / incomplete / disabled / to remain / to survive / remnant / surplus	syn
残酷殘酷	cán kù	cruel / cruelty	syn
惭愧慚愧	cán kuì	ashamed	syn
残留殘留	cán liú	to remain / to be left over / residual / remnant / residue	syn
残缺殘缺	cán quē	badly damaged / shattered	syn
残忍殘忍	cán rěn	cruel / mean / merciless / ruthless	syn
惨慘	cǎn	miserable / wretched / cruel / inhuman / disastrous / tragic / dim / gloomy	syn
惨白慘白	cǎn bái	deathly pale	syn
惨痛慘痛	cǎn tòng	bitter / painful / deeply distressed	syn
惨重慘重	cǎn zhòng	disastrous	syn
灿烂燦爛	càn làn	to glitter / brilliant / splendid	syn
舱艙	cāng	cabin / the hold of a ship or airplane	syn
苍白蒼白	cāng bái	pale / wan	syn
仓促倉促	cāng cù	all of a sudden / hurriedly	syn
沧桑滄桑	cāng sāng	great changes / ups and downs / vicissitudes / abbr. of 滄海桑田\|沧海桑田[cang1 hai3 sang1 tian2]	syn
苍蝇蒼蠅	cāng ying	housefly / CL:隻\|只[zhi1]	syn
藏匿	cáng nì	to cover up / to conceal / to go into hiding	syn
藏品	cáng pǐn	museum piece / collector's item / precious object
藏身	cáng shēn	to hide / to go into hiding / to take refuge	syn
操控	cāo kòng	to control / to manipulate
操劳操勞	cāo láo	to work hard / to look after	syn
操练操練	cāo liàn	drill / practice	syn
操心	cāo xīn	to worry about	syn
操纵操縱	cāo zòng	to operate / to control / to rig / to manipulate	syn
嘈杂嘈雜	cáo zá	noisy / clamorous	syn
草案	cǎo àn	draft (legislation, proposal etc)

The four tones

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.

HSK 7-9 Vocabulary List with Pinyin

What the advanced band of HSK 3.0 covers

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