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
cuōto rub or roll between the hands or fingers / to twistsyn
磋商cuō shāngto consult / to discuss seriously / to negotiate / to confer / negotiations / consultationssyn
挫败挫敗cuò bàito thwart / to foil (sb's plans) / a setback / a failure / a defeatsyn
错别字錯別字cuò bié zìincorrectly written or mispronounced characters
错觉錯覺cuò juémisconception / illusion / misperception
措手不及cuò shǒu bù jíno time to deal with it (idiom) / caught unpreparedsyn
错位錯位cuò wèito be wrongly positioned / to be dislocated / to be misplaced / (medicine) to be in malposition / (fig.) erroneous / eccentric
错综复杂錯綜複雜cuò zōng fù zátangled and complicated (idiom)syn
搭乘dā chéngto ride as a passenger / to travel by (car, plane etc)syn
搭档搭檔dā dàngto cooperate / partnersyn
搭建dā jiànto build (esp. with simple materials) / to knock together (a temporary shed) / to rig up
答辩答辯dá biànto reply (to an accusation) / to defend one's dissertationsyn
达标達標dá biāoto reach a set standardsyn
to beat / to strike / to hit / to break / to type / to mix up / to build / to fight / to fetch / to make / to tie up / to issue / to shoot / to calculate / to play (a game) / since / fromsyn
打喷嚏打噴嚏dǎ pēn tìto sneeze
打下手dǎ xià shǒuto act in a supporting role / fig. to play second fiddlesyn
打岔dǎ chàinterruption / to interrupt (esp. talk) / to change the subject
打倒dǎ dǎoto overthrow / to knock down / Down with ... !syn
打赌打賭dǎ dǔto bet / to make a bet / a wager
打盹儿打盹兒dǎ dǔn rerhua variant of 打盹[da3 dun3]syn
打发打發dǎ fato dispatch sb to do sth / to make sb leave / to pass (the time) / (old) to make arrangements / (old) to bestow (alms etc)syn
打搅打攪dǎ jiǎoto disturb / to trouble / to bothersyn
打捞打撈dǎ lāoto salvage / to dredge / to fish out (person or object from the sea)syn
打量dǎ liangto size sb up / to look sb up and down / to take the measure of / to suppose / to reckonsyn
打猎打獵dǎ lièto go huntingsyn
打磨dǎ móto polish / to burnish / to shinesyn
打消dǎ xiāoto dispel (doubts, misgivings etc) / to give up onsyn
大不了dà bù liǎoat worst / if worst comes to worst / (usu. in the negative) serious / alarmingsyn
大大咧咧dà dà liē liēcarefree / offhand / casualsyn
大纲大綱dà gāngsynopsis / outline / program / leading principlessyn
大公无私大公無私dà gōng wú sīselfless / impartialsyn
大街小巷dà jiē xiǎo xiànggreat streets and small alleys (idiom) / everywhere in the citysyn
大惊小怪大驚小怪dà jīng xiǎo guàito make a fuss about nothing (idiom)syn
大局dà júoverall situation / the big picturesyn
大陆大陸dà lùcontinent / mainland / CL:個|个[ge4],塊|块[kuai4]syn
大名鼎鼎dà míng dǐng dǐnggrand reputation / renowned / famoussyn
大片dà piànwide expanse / large area / vast stretch / extending widely / blockbuster movie
大气大氣dà qìatmosphere (surrounding the earth) / imposing / impressive / stylishsyn
大数据大數據dà shù jùbig data (computing)
大肆dà sìwantonly / without restraint (of enemy or malefactor) / unbridledsyn
大体大體dà tǐin general / more or less / in rough terms / basically / on the whole / overall situation / the big picture / cadaver for dissection in training medical studentssyn
大同小异大同小異dà tóng xiǎo yìvirtually the same / differing only on small pointssyn
大为大為dà wéivery / greatlysyn
大雁dà yànwild goose / CL:隻|只[zhi1]syn
大意dà yicarelesssyn
大意dà yìgeneral idea / main ideasyn
大有可为大有可為dà yǒu kě wéiwith great prospects for the future (idiom) / well worth doingsyn
大宗dà zōnglarge amount / staple / influential family of long standingsyn
dǎi(coll.) to catch / to seize / to capturesyn
歹徒dǎi túevildoer / malefactor / gangster / hoodlumsyn
逮捕dài bǔto arrest / to apprehend / to take into custody / Taiwan pr. [dai3bu3]syn
带队帶隊dài duìto lead a team / to lead a group / group leader / (tourism) tour guidesyn
怠工dài gōngto slacken off in one's work / to go slow (as a form of strike)syn
代号代號dài hàocode name
代理人dài lǐ rénagentsyn
带路帶路dài lùto lead the way / to guide / to show the way / (fig.) to instructsyn
怠慢dài mànto slight / to neglectsyn
带头帶頭dài tóuto take the lead / to be the first / to set an examplesyn
代言dài yánto be a spokesperson / to be an ambassador (for a brand) / to endorse
dānto undertake / to carry / to shoulder / to take responsibilitysyn
担保擔保dān bǎoto guarantee / to vouch forsyn
单边單邊dān biānunilateralsyn
单薄單薄dān bóweak / frail / thin / flimsysyn
担当擔當dān dāngto take upon oneself / to assumesyn
单方面單方面dān fāng miànunilateralsyn
担负擔負dān fùto shoulder / to bear / to undertakesyn
耽搁耽擱dān geto tarry / to delay / to stop oversyn
单价單價dān jiàunit price
单身單身dān shēnunmarried / single / alonesyn
胆量膽量dǎn liàngcourage / boldness / gutssyn
胆怯膽怯dǎn qiètimidity / timid / cowardlysyn
胆小鬼膽小鬼dǎn xiǎo guǐcowardsyn
dànpicul (100 catties, 50 kg) / two buckets full / carrying pole and its load / classifier for loads carried on a shoulder polesyn
诞辰誕辰dàn chénbirthdaysyn
淡化dàn huàto water down / to play down / to trivialize / to weaken / to become dull with time / to desalinate / desalinationsyn
淡季dàn jìoff season / slow business season / see also 旺季[wang4 ji4]
淡水dàn shuǐpotable water (water with low salt content) / fresh water
但愿但願dàn yuànif only (sth were possible) / I wish (that)syn
担子擔子dàn zicarrying pole and the loads on it / burden / task / responsibility / CL:副[fu4]syn
当即當即dāng jíat once / on the spotsyn
当机立断當機立斷dāng jī lì duànto make prompt decisions (idiom)syn
当日當日dāng rìon that daysyn
当事人當事人dāng shì rénpersons involved or implicated / party (to an affair)syn
当务之急當務之急dāng wù zhī jí(idiom) top priority job / a matter of the greatest urgency
当心當心dāng xīnto take care / to look outsyn
当之无愧當之無愧dāng zhī wú kuìfully deserving, without any reservations (idiom) / entirely worthy (of a title, honor etc)syn
当众當眾dāng zhòngin public / in front of everybodysyn
dǎngparty / association / club / society / CL:個|个[ge4]syn
档次檔次dàng cìgrade / class / quality / levelsyn
当晚當晚dàng wǎnthe same eveningsyn
荡漾蕩漾dàng yàngto ripple / to undulate
当真當真dàng zhēnto take seriously / serious / No joking, really!syn
导弹導彈dǎo dàn(guided) missile / CL:枚[mei2]
导航導航dǎo háng(lit. and fig.) to navigatesyn
导火索導火索dǎo huǒ suǒfuse (for explosive)
捣乱搗亂dǎo luànto disturb / to look for trouble / to stir up a row / to bother sb intentionallysyn
倒霉dǎo méito have bad luck / to be out of lucksyn
倒塌dǎo tāto collapse (of building) / to topple oversyn
导向導向dǎo xiàngto be oriented towards / orientation
岛屿島嶼dǎo yǔislandsyn
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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