HSK 6 Vocabulary List: 5,399 Words (HSK 3.0)
In HSK 3.0, HSK 6 has 5,399 words in total, 1,800 of them new at this level. They cover chengyu, formal and classical register, and the layered vocabulary of serious written Chinese.
By Haoshan Hong · Native Mandarin speaker · Updated September 2026
Hear HSK 6 words in a real story
天上掉快递：亚马逊无人机让得州小城居民受不了
Boxes Falling From the Sky: Amazon's Delivery Drones Are Driving a Texas Suburb Up the Wall
3 min
What is on the HSK 6 word list?
In HSK 3.0, the exam from 13 December 2026, HSK 6 has 5,399 words. Of those, 1,800 are new at this level and the rest come from HSK 1–5. The old HSK 2.0 list had 5,000.
They cover chengyu, formal and classical register, and the layered vocabulary of serious written Chinese.
HSK 6 word list
All 5,334 words below, straight from the official HSK 3.0 syllabus. The 1,777 words new at HSK 6 come first, then earlier levels. The syllabus counts 5,399 entries because a few words are listed once per reading; each appears here once, with every reading.
Pinyin comes from the syllabus and definitions 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 2701–2750 of 5,334 · page 55 of 107
沙子shāziHSK 5sand
- sand
- grit
- CL:粒,把
傻shǎHSK 5foolish
- foolish
晒shàiHSK 5(of the sun) to shine on
- (of the sun) to shine on
- to bask in (the sunshine)
- to dry (clothes, grain etc) in the sun
- (fig.) to expose and share (one's experiences and thoughts) on the Web (loanword from "share")
- (coll.) to give the cold shoulder to
- variant of 晒
山区shānqūHSK 5mountain area
- mountain area
- CL:个
删shānHSK 5to delete
- to delete
删除shānchúHSK 5to delete
- to delete
- to cancel
扇shān / shànHSK 5fan
- fan
- sliding, hinged or detachable flat part of sth
- classifier for doors, windows etc
- to fan
- to slap sb on the face
扇子shànziHSK 5fan
- fan
- CL:把
善良shànliángHSK 5good and honest
- good and honest
- kindhearted
善于shànyúHSK 5to be good at
- to be good at
- to be adept at
擅长shànchángHSK 5to be good at
- to be good at
- to be expert in
伤shāngHSK 5to injure
- to injure
- injury
- wound
伤害shānghàiHSK 5to injure
- to injure
- to harm
商家shāngjiāHSK 5merchant
- merchant
- business
- enterprise
商人shāngrénHSK 5merchant
- merchant
- businessman
商务shāngwùHSK 5commercial affairs
- commercial affairs
- commercial
- commerce
- business
商业shāngyèHSK 5business
- business
- trade
- commerce
赏shǎngHSK 5to bestow (a reward)
- to bestow (a reward)
- to give (to an inferior)
- to hand down
- a reward (bestowed by a superior)
- to appreciate (beauty)
上传shàngchuánHSK 5to upload
- to upload
上升shàngshēngHSK 5to rise
- to rise
- to go up
- to ascend
上下shàngxiàHSK 5the top and bottom of sth
- the top and bottom of sth
- the full vertical extent of sth
- from top to bottom
- to go up and down
- before and after (as in 上下文 "context")
- (used after a quantity) approximately
- ... or so
- (in a social hierarchy) the high and the low
- seniors and juniors (as in 上下和睦 "harmony between superiors and subordinates")
- all members of a group (as in 举国上下 "the entire nation")
- relative superiority (as in 不相上下 "evenly matched")
上涨shàngzhǎngHSK 5to rise
- to rise
- to go up
烧shāoHSK 5to burn
- to burn
- to set on fire
- to heat (over a fire)
- to boil (water, tea etc)
- to braise
- to cook
- to prepare food
- to run a fever
- fever
- (coll.) to become full of oneself
- to get carried away
烧烤shāokǎoHSK 5barbecue
- barbecue
- to roast
蛇shéHSK 5snake
- snake
- serpent
- CL:条
- used in 委蛇
- variant of 蛇
舍不得shěbudeHSK 5to hate to do sth
- to hate to do sth
- to hate to part with
- to begrudge
舍得shědeHSK 5to be willing to part with sth
- to be willing to part with sth
设备shèbèiHSK 5equipment
- equipment
- facilities
- installations
设计shèjìHSK 5to design
- to design
- to plan
- design
- plan
设立shèlìHSK 5to set up
- to set up
- to establish
设施shèshīHSK 5facilities
- facilities
- installation
设置shèzhìHSK 5to set up
- to set up
- to install
社区shèqūHSK 5community
- community
- neighborhood
摄影shèyǐngHSK 5to take a photograph
- to take a photograph
- photography
- to shoot (a movie)
伸shēnHSK 5to stretch
- to stretch
- to extend
身材shēncáiHSK 5stature
- stature
- build (height and weight)
- figure
身份shēnfènHSK 5identity
- identity
- aspect of one's identity (e.g. mayor, father, permanent resident)
- role
- capacity (as in "in his capacity as ..." 以 + ... + 的身份)
- status (social, legal etc)
- position
- rank
深度shēndùHSK 5depth
- depth
- (of a speech etc) profundity
- advanced stage of development
深厚shēnhòuHSK 5deep
- deep
- profound
深刻shēnkèHSK 5profound
- profound
- deep
- deep-going
深入shēnrùHSK 5to penetrate deeply
- to penetrate deeply
- thorough
深远shēnyuǎnHSK 5far-reaching
- far-reaching
- profound and long-lasting
神话shénhuàHSK 5legend
- legend
- fairy tale
- myth
- mythology
神秘shénmìHSK 5mysterious
- mysterious
- mystery
升shēngHSK 5to ascend
- to ascend
- to rise
- to promote
- to elevate
- liter
- unit of dry measure for grain (= one liter or one-tenth dou 斗)
- to ascend
- to rise (variant of 升)
- to promote
- to elevate (variant of 升)
- to ascend
- to rise (variant of 升)
- to promote
- to elevate (variant of 升)
升级shēngjíHSK 5to go up by one grade
- to go up by one grade
- to be promoted
- to escalate (in intensity)
- (computing) to upgrade
升温shēngwēnHSK 5to become hot
- to become hot
- temperature rise
- (fig.) to intensify
- to hot up
- to escalate
- to get a boost
生产shēngchǎnHSK 5to produce
- to produce
- to manufacture
- to give birth to a child
生存shēngcúnHSK 5to exist
- to exist
- to survive
生动shēngdòngHSK 5(of descriptions, writing etc) vivid
- (of descriptions, writing etc) vivid
- lively
How to actually learn HSK 6 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 6 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 6 episodes to hear these words in
Every episode below is written inside the HSK 6 word band and read at HSK 6 speed. Press play — no account needed for the first few.
HSK 1 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 2 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 3–4 Chinese listening episodes
Showing 12 of 250
HSK 5–6 Chinese listening episodes
Showing 12 of 250
The method in practice
Hear HSK 6 vocabulary in real Mandarin
Every HSK 6 episode is written inside this word band and read at HSK 6 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.