Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; low; to incline; beneath

Chinese: 位置低、程度低。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “di” becomes a different word in each tone. 低 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 降低jiàng dīto reduce; to lower; to bring down
  • 低于dī yúto be lower than
  • 低温dī wēnlow temperature
  • 低价dī jiàlow price
  • 低头dī tóuto bow the head; to yield; to give in

Example Sentence

今天的气温比昨天低。Jīn tiān de qì wēn bǐ zuó tiān dī.Today temperature is lower than yesterday.

今天Jīn tiāntodaydeof气温qì wēnair temperaturecompared to昨天zuó tiānyesterdaylow

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

The person radical 亻 (meaning) plus 氐 (dī, sound): bending down low. It means ‘low / to lower’.

A way to remember it

A person (亻) bowing down — low.

Easy to confuse with

  • ‘Bottom’: the same 氐 sound, but under a cliff (广), not a person.