失

shī
#375 most
frequent character
to lose, to miss, to fail

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

失 was drawn as a footprint with blood drops around it. That picture gave the first meaning, 'losing footing and falling'. From there it grew to 'to lose' and then 'to fail'.

Drawn as: footprint with blood

失 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
跌
sound10 characters
铁跌秩迭轶帙鉄瓞袟泆
picture1 character
佚

Ask DeepSeek

Homophones

HSK 5
诗shī
poem
湿shī
wet, damp, humid
尸shī
(bound form) corpse
师shī
teacher, master, expert, model
施shī
(bound form) to put into effect (regulations etc)

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.