衰

衰 · shuāi

decline, falter, decrease; weaken

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

decline, falter, decrease; weaken

Mandarin
shuāi
Cantonese
seoi1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 衰 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

スイサセシサイ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

おとろえる

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

スイ サ セ シ サイ おとろえる

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

쇠

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
쇠
KS X 1001 (0)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

쇠:0

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

suy

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

suy

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+8870
Radical
衣 · 145
Strokes
10 · Unihan
Residual
4

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

10 strokes
衰
Strokes
10
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

10 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿳亠⿻口一𧘇(GHTJKPV)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 衰

Character connections

2 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Follow this component

Reverse links to attributed component analyses. Open each character for its role, source and words. Shared components do not establish word ancestry.

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
tsrhjwe · 楚危 反切 · #136
Middle Chinese
srwij · 所追 反切 · #165

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 1176 · tsrhjwe = 止合三平支初 · srwij = 止合三平脂生

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
shuāi
kCantonese
seoi1
kDefinition
decline, falter, decrease; weaken
kTotalStrokes
10
kRSUnicode
145.4
kGradeLevel
4
kTGH
2013:2019

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
suō,shuāi,cuī 53076.090
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
cuī 0182.040 · shuāi 1071.030
Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
shuāi粵seoi1 cuī粵ceoi1
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 衰 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
42dictionary records using 衰3forms using this shape2attributed sound links
⿳ Three rows
⿻ Overlaid

Shape description
亠 above (口 overlaps 一) above 𧘇 · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^⿳亠⿻口一𧘇$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 42 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿳亠⿻口一𧘇$(GHTJKPV)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.