HSK 5 Vocabulary List: 2,500 Words
HSK 5 assumes 2,500 cumulative words — 1300 of them new at this level. They cover news, business, academic and literary register — the vocabulary of newspapers, lectures, and film dialogue.
By Haoshan HongNative Mandarin speakerUpdated July 2026
Hear HSK 5 words in a real story
黄石公园热泉区清出280多顶帽子
Yellowstone Finds 280 Hats in Hot-Spring Areas
1 min
What is on the HSK 5 word list?
The HSK word lists are published and cumulative, which is what makes the exam a finite target. HSK 5 assumes 2,500 words in total — 1,300 of them introduced at this level.
They cover news, business, academic and literary register — the vocabulary of newspapers, lectures, and film dialogue.
HSK 5 word list
All 2,491 entries below, straight from the official Hanban HSK 2.0 list. The 1,298 words new at HSK 5 come first, then earlier levels.
Pinyin and definitions come from CC-CEDICT. Tap any word to see its other senses without leaving the list. Words with a full Fluentide entry — character breakdown, usage notes, example sentences — link out from there.
Showing 2351–2400 of 2,491 · page 48 of 50
茶cháHSK 1tea
- tea
- tea plant
- CL:杯,壶
吃chīHSK 1to eat
- to eat
- to consume
- to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
- to eradicate
- to destroy
- to absorb
- to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
- variant of 吃
出租车chūzūchēHSK 1taxi
- taxi
- (Tw) rental car
打电话dǎdiànhuàHSK 1to make a telephone call
- to make a telephone call
大dàHSK 1big
- big
- large
- great
- older (than another person)
- eldest (as in 大姐)
- greatly
- freely
- fully
- (dialect) father
- (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
- see 大夫
的deHSK 1of
- of
- ~'s (possessive particle)
- (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)
- (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
- (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 "new one")
- also pr. or in poetry and songs
- a taxi
- a cab (abbr. for 的士)
- really and truly
- (bound form) bull's-eye
- target
点diǎnHSK 1to touch briefly
- to touch briefly
- to tap
- to mark with a dot
- to check off (on a list)
- to order (food etc)
- to select
- to mention
- to bring up (a topic or person)
- to hint at
- to imply
- to administer (eye medicine etc) in drops
- to light (a fire, a lamp etc)
- to ignite
- to nod (one's head) in agreement
- to beckon by moving (one's hand) up and down
- point
- dot
- spot
- speck
- dot stroke in Chinese characters
- (math.) decimal point
- point in time or space
- (after a number) o'clock
- a small amount
- a bit
- (after a verb or adjective) a bit more
- classifier for small amounts
电脑diànnǎoHSK 1computer
- computer
- CL:台
电视diànshìHSK 1television
- television
- TV
- CL:台,部
电影diànyǐngHSK 1movie
- movie
- film
- CL:部
东西dōngxīHSK 1east and west
- east and west
都dōuHSK 1all
- all
- both
- entirely
- (used for emphasis) even
- already
- (not) at all
- capital city
- metropolis
- surname Du
读dúHSK 1to read out
- to read out
- to read aloud
- to read
- to attend (school)
- to study (a subject in school)
- to pronounce
- comma
- phrase marked by pause
对不起duìbuqǐHSK 1I'm sorry
- I'm sorry
- excuse me
- I beg your pardon
- to let (sb) down
- to disappoint
多duōHSK 1many
- many
- much
- more
- a lot of
- too many
- in excess
- (after a numeral) ... odd
- how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. )
- (bound form) multi-
- poly-
多少duōshǎoHSK 1number
- number
- amount
- somewhat
儿子érziHSK 1son
二èrHSK 1two
- two
- 2
- (Beijing dialect) stupid
饭馆fànguǎnHSK 1restaurant
- restaurant
- CL:家
飞机fēijīHSK 1airplane
- airplane
- CL:架
分钟fēnzhōngHSK 1minute
高兴gāoxìngHSK 1happy
- happy
- glad
- willing (to do sth)
- in a cheerful mood
个gèHSK 1(classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier)
- (classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier)
- (bound form) individual
- used in 自个儿
- variant of 个
工作gōngzuòHSK 1to work
- to work
- (of a machine) to operate
- job
- work
- task
- CL:个,份,项
狗gǒuHSK 1dog
汉语hànyǔHSK 1Chinese language
- Chinese language
好hǎoHSK 1good
- good
- appropriate
- proper
- all right!
- (before a verb) easy to
- (before a verb) good to
- (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so
- (verb complement indicating completion)
- (of two people) close
- on intimate terms
- (after a form of address) hello
- to be fond of
- to have a tendency to
- to be prone to
喝hēHSK 1to drink
- to drink
- to shout
- variant of 嗬
和héHSK 1(joining two nouns) and
- (joining two nouns) and
- together with
- with (Taiwan pr. )
- (math.) sum
- to make peace
- (sports) to draw
- to tie
- (bound form) harmonious
- (bound form) Japan
- Japanese
- to compose a poem in reply (to sb's poem) using the same rhyme sequence
- to join in the singing
- to chime in with others
- to complete a set in mahjong or playing cards
- to combine a powdery substance (flour, plaster etc) with water
- Taiwan pr.
- to mix (ingredients) together
- to blend
- classifier for rinses of clothes
- classifier for boilings of medicinal herbs
- surname He
- (literary) harmonious (variant of 和)
- old variant of 和
很hěnHSK 1very
- very
- quite
- (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)
后面hòumianHSK 1the back
- the back
- the rear
- the last bit
- behind
- near the end
- at the back
- later
- afterwards
回huíHSK 1to go back
- to go back
- to return
- to turn back
- to turn around
- to reply
- to answer
- classifier for literary divisions (acts of a play, sections or chapters of a classic book)
- classifier for occurrences or times
- to curve
- to return
- to revolve
- Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims)
- variant of 回
会huìHSK 1can
- can
- to have the skill
- to know how to
- to be likely to
- to be sure to
- to meet
- to get together
- meeting
- gathering
- (suffix) union
- group
- association
- (bound form) a moment (Taiwan pr. )
- (bound form) to reckon accounts
火车站huǒchēzhànHSK 1train station
- train station
几jǐHSK 1how many
- how many
- how much
- several
- a few
- small table
- (literary) almost
家jiāHSK 1home
- home
- family
- (polite) my (sister, uncle etc)
- classifier for families or businesses
- refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China
- noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian
- CL:个
- used in 家伙 and 家俱
叫jiàoHSK 1to shout
- to shout
- to call
- to order
- to ask
- to be called
- by (indicates agent in the passive mood)
- variant of 叫
今天jīntiānHSK 1today
- today
- the present time
- now
九jiǔHSK 1nine
开kāiHSK 1to open (transitive or intransitive)
- to open (transitive or intransitive)
- (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start
- to turn on
- to put in operation
- to operate
- to run
- to boil
- to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc)
- (directional complement) away
- off
- carat (gold)
- abbr. for Kelvin, 开尔文
- abbr. for 开本, book format
看kànHSK 1to see
- to see
- to look at
- to read
- to watch
- to visit
- to call on
- to consider
- to regard as
- to look after
- to treat (a patient or illness)
- to depend on
- to feel (that)
- (after a verb) to give it a try
- to watch out for
- to look after
- to take care of
- to watch
- to guard
看见kànjiànHSK 1to see
- to see
- to catch sight of
块kuàiHSK 1lump
- lump
- chunk
- piece
- classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc
- (coll.) classifier for money and currency units
来láiHSK 1to come
- to come
- (used as a substitute for a more specific verb)
- hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来)
- ever since (as in 自古以来)
- for the past (amount of time)
- (prefix) the coming ...
- the next ... (as in 来世)
- (between two verbs) in order to
- (after a round number) approximately
- (used after 得 to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来, or after 不 to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来)
老师lǎoshīHSK 1teacher
了liǎoHSK 1to finish
- to finish
- (used with 得 or 不 after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 "cannot forget")
- (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 无 or 不) completely (not)
- entirely (not)
- (not) in the least
- (bound form) clear in one's mind
- to understand clearly
- (completed action marker)
- (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
- (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
- unofficial variant of 瞭
- variant of 了
冷lěngHSK 1cold
- cold
- surname Leng
里lǐHSK 1lining
- lining
- interior
- inside
- internal
- also written 里
- li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m
- neighborhood
- ancient administrative unit of 25 families
- (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 镇 and neighborhood 邻 levels
- surname Li
- variant of 里
零língHSK 1zero
- zero
- nought
- zero sign
- fractional
- fragmentary
- odd (of numbers)
- (placed between two numbers to indicate a smaller quantity followed by a larger one)
- fraction
- (in mathematics) remainder (after division)
- extra
- to wither and fall
- to wither
六liùHSK 1six
- six
- 6
- used in place names
How to actually learn HSK 5 vocabulary
A word list is a checklist, not a method. Recognising a word on a page is a different skill from catching it at speed in a sentence — and the HSK listening section only tests the second one.
Read the list once, do not memorise it
You are looking for which words feel unfamiliar, not trying to learn them here.
Listen at your level daily
Fluentide's HSK 5 episodes are written inside this vocabulary band, so the words arrive in sentences instead of flashcards.
Look a word up only after you have heard it
A word you have already met in audio sticks in one reading. A word you meet cold takes many.
Come back to this list monthly
Use it as a progress check, not a study plan. The gaps you find are what to listen for next.
HSK 5 episodes to hear these words in
Every episode below is written inside the HSK 5 word band and read at HSK 5 speed. Press play — no account needed for the first few.
HSK 5–6 Chinese listening episodes
Showing 12 of 231
The method in practice
Hear HSK 5 vocabulary in real Mandarin
Every HSK 5 episode is written inside this word band and read at HSK 5 speed, so words stick because you have heard them in a sentence. Full transcript, pinyin toggle, and line-by-line English on every episode. Five free episodes after a one-tap magic-link sign-in — no password, no payment.