笑话
HSK 4 (exam 2025)HSK 2 (2021)Old HSK 4
笑话 (xiàohua) · joke
笑话 (xiàohua) means “joke; to laugh at”. It is written with 2 characters: 笑 (to smile) + 话 (words). It is an HSK 4 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 笑话 is built
The characters
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)
话 huà · words
What 话 is made of
- 讠yán — speech
- 舌shé — tongue
- 千qiān — thousand
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 十 — ten
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 千qiān — thousand
Origin hint: A spoken 讠 tongue 舌; 舌 also provides the pronunciation (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
他讲了一个笑话。Tā jiǎng le yī ge xiàohua.He told a joke.
别笑话他。Bié xiàohua tā.Don't laugh at him.
Questions about 笑话
What does 笑话 mean?
笑话 (xiàohua) means “joke; to laugh at”.
How do you pronounce 笑话?
笑话 is pronounced xiàohua.
Which HSK level is 笑话?
笑话 is in HSK 4 (exam 2025) and HSK 2 (2021) and Old HSK 4.
Related words
- 开玩笑kāiwánxiàoto joke
- 笑话儿xiàohuarjoke
- 微笑wēixiàoto smile
- 嘲笑cháoxiàoto laugh at
- 讥笑jīxiàoto sneer at
- 好笑hǎoxiàofunny
- 笑xiàoto smile
- 打电话dǎdiànhuàto make a phone call
- 电话diànhuàtelephone
- 说话shuōhuàto speak
Learn 笑话 with its group
It is part of HSK 2 (2021) · Group 64: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.