开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào) · to joke
开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào) means “to joke”. It is written with 3 characters: 开 (to open) + 玩 (to play) + 笑 (to smile). It is an HSK 4 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 开玩笑 is built
The characters
开 kāi · to open
What 开 is made of
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 廾gǒng — two hands
Origin hint: Simplified form of 開; hands 廾 lifting the latch 一 of a door (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
玩 wán · to play
What 玩 is made of
- 王wáng — king
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 元yuán — yuan
- 二 — two strokes
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 儿ér — child
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 乚 — hook stroke
- 二 — two strokes
Origin hint: 王 gives the meaning, 元 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
笑 xiào · to smile
What 笑 is made of
- ⺮zhú — bamboo
- 夭yāo — young
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 大dà — big
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 人rén — person
Origin hint: A person 夭 with a big grin ⺮ (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
Questions about 开玩笑
What does 开玩笑 mean?
开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào) means “to joke”.
How do you pronounce 开玩笑?
开玩笑 is pronounced kāiwánxiào.
Which HSK level is 开玩笑?
开玩笑 is in HSK 4 (exam 2025) and HSK 1 (2021) and Old HSK 4.
Related words
- 打开dǎkāito open
- 开车kāichēto drive
- 开会kāihuìto have a meeting
- 分开fēnkāito separate
- 开机kāijīto turn on (a phone, computer etc.)
- 开心kāixīnhappy
- 开学kāixuéschool starts
- 离开líkāito leave
- 走开zǒukāito go away
- 公开gōngkāipublic
It is part of HSK 1 (2021) · Group 45: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.