惜 xī — pity; regret; rue; begrudge
我们要爱惜粮食，不要浪费。Wǒ men yào ài xī liáng shi, bú yào làng fèi.We should cherish food and not waste it.
Common words: 可惜 (kě xī)、珍惜 (zhēn xī)、爱惜 (ài xī)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "regret"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "regret", including 惜 (xī), 悔 (huǐ), 憾 (hàn). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "regret" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 惜 (xī), 悔 (huǐ), 憾 (hàn) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span xī, huǐ, hàn — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 惜 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 惜 xīpity; regret; rue; begrudgeUseful words: 可惜, 珍惜
- 悔 huǐregretUseful words: 后悔, 悔恨
- 憾 hànregretUseful words: 遗憾, 憾事
Common words for these 3 "regret" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 惜 (xī) — so "regret" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
可惜kě xīit is a pity; what a pity; unfortunately珍惜zhēn xīto treasure; to value; to cherish爱惜ài xīto cherish; to treasure; to use sparingly后悔hòu huǐto regret; to feel remorse悔恨huǐ hènremorse; repentance自悔zì huǐto regret; to repent遗憾yí hànregret; to regret; to be sorry that憾事hàn shìa matter for regret; sth that is a (great) pity缺憾quē hàna regret; sth regrettable
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "regret".
悔 huǐ — regret
做错了事，他感到十分后悔。Zuò cuò le shì, tā gǎn dào shí fēn hòu huǐ.After doing something wrong, he felt very regretful.
Common words: 后悔 (hòu huǐ)、悔恨 (huǐ hèn)、自悔 (zì huǐ)
憾 hàn — regret
没能去看那场比赛，他感到很遗憾。Méi néng qù kàn nà chǎng bǐ sài, tā gǎn dào hěn yí hàn.He felt regretful that he could not go to watch that match.
Common words: 遗憾 (yí hàn)、憾事 (hàn shì)、缺憾 (quē hàn)
All 3 characters
Open 惜、悔、憾 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.