激励 (jīlì) · to encourage

激励 (jīlì) means “to encourage; to motivate; motivation”. It is written with 2 characters: 激 (to arouse) + 励 (to encourage). It is an old HSK 6 word (HSK 2.0).

How 激励 is built

The characters

激 jī · to arouse

What 激 is made of

氵shuǐ — water
敫jiǎo — ancient musical instrument
- 白bái — white
  - 日rì — sun; day
- 方fāng — square
  - 亠tóu — lid
- 攵pū — to rap
  - 乂yì — crossed strokes

Origin hint: 氵 gives the meaning, 敫 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)

励 lì · to encourage

What 励 is made of

厉lì — whetstone
- 厂chǎng — cliff
- 万wàn — ten thousand
  - 一 — horizontal stroke
力lì — strength
- 丿 — falling stroke

Example sentences

老师的话激励着我不断努力。Lǎoshī de huà jīlì zhe wǒ búduàn nǔlì.The teacher's words keep motivating me to work hard.

公司用奖金激励员工。Gōngsī yòng jiǎngjīn jīlì yuángōng.The company uses bonuses to motivate staff.

Questions about 激励

What does 激励 mean?

激励 (jīlì) means “to encourage; to motivate; motivation”.

How do you pronounce 激励?

激励 is pronounced jīlì.

Which HSK level is 激励?

激励 is in Old HSK 6.

Related words

Learn 激励 with its group

It is part of Old HSK 6 · Group 85: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.

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