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HSK 6 Vocabulary

HSK 6 Vocabulary List: 5,000 Words

HSK 6 assumes 5,000 cumulative words — 2500 of them new at this level. They cover chengyu, formal and classical register, and the layered vocabulary of serious written Chinese.

By Haoshan HongNative Mandarin speakerUpdated July 2026

What is on the HSK 6 word list?

The HSK word lists are published and cumulative, which is what makes the exam a finite target. HSK 6 assumes 5,000 words in total — 2,500 of them introduced at this level.

They cover chengyu, formal and classical register, and the layered vocabulary of serious written Chinese.

HSK proficiency ladderThe six HSK levels with cumulative vocabulary requirements: HSK 1 requires 150 words, HSK 2 requires 300, HSK 3 requires 600, HSK 4 requires 1,200, HSK 5 requires 2,500, and HSK 6 requires 5,000 words. Word counts follow the official Hanban HSK 2.0 standard.HSK levels by cumulative vocabularyHSK 1beginner150 wordsHSK 2elementary300 wordsHSK 3pre-intermediate600 wordsHSK 4intermediate1,200 wordsHSK 5upper-intermediate2,500 wordsHSK 6advanced5,000 wordsSource: Hanban HSK 2.0 standard
Cumulative vocabulary required at each HSK level — bar width is proportional to the word count.

HSK 6 word list

All 4,991 entries below, straight from the official Hanban HSK 2.0 list. The 2,500 words new at HSK 6 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 46014650 of 4,991 · page 93 of 100

shuāHSK 3

a brush

  • a brush
  • to paint
  • to daub
  • to brush
  • to scrub
  • (fig.) to remove
  • to eliminate (from a contest)
  • to fire (from a job)
  • (onom.) swish
  • rustle
  • to swipe (a card)
  • to scroll on (a phone)
  • (gaming) to grind
  • to farm (for experience points, equipment, levels etc)
shuāngHSK 3

variant of 双

水平shuǐpíngHSK 3

horizontal

  • horizontal
  • level
  • a standard
  • a level (of ability, development etc)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
司机sījīHSK 3

chauffeur

虽然suīránHSK 3

although

  • although
  • even though (often used correlatively with 可是 or 但是 etc)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
太阳tàiyangHSK 3

sun

  • sun
  • sunlight
  • sunshine
  • temple (on the side of the human head) (abbr. for 太阳穴)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
tángHSK 3

sugar

  • sugar
  • sweets
  • candy
  • CL:颗,块
特别tèbiéHSK 3

unusual

  • unusual
  • special
  • very
  • especially
  • particularly
  • expressly
  • for a specific purpose
  • (often followed by 是) in particular
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
téngHSK 3

(it) hurts

提高tígāoHSK 3

to raise

体育tǐyùHSK 3

sports

tiánHSK 3

sweet

tiáoHSK 3

strip

  • strip
  • item
  • article
  • clause (of law or treaty)
  • classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
同事tóngshìHSK 3

colleague

同意tóngyìHSK 3

to agree

头发tóufaHSK 3

hair (on the head)

突然tūránHSK 3

sudden

图书馆túshūguǎnHSK 3

library

tuǐHSK 3

leg

完成wánchéngHSK 3

to complete

wǎnHSK 3

variant of 碗

HSK 3

used in 万俟

忘记wàngjìHSK 3

to forget

为了wèileHSK 3

for

为什么wèishénmeHSK 3

why?

wèiHSK 3

position

  • position
  • location
  • place
  • seat
  • classifier for people (honorific)
  • classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes)
  • (physics) potential
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
文化wénhuàHSK 3

culture

  • culture
  • civilization
  • cultural
  • CL:个,种
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
西HSK 3

the West

  • the West
  • Spanish
  • abbr. for Spain 西班牙
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
习惯xíguànHSK 3

habit

  • habit
  • custom
  • usual practice
  • to be used to
  • CL:个
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
洗手间xǐshǒujiānHSK 3

toilet

洗澡xǐzǎoHSK 3

to bathe

xiàHSK 3

the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC

  • the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC
  • Xia of the Sixteen Kingdoms (407–432)
  • surname Xia
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
xiānHSK 3

beforehand

  • beforehand
  • first
  • earlier
  • at first
  • originally
  • for the time being
  • for now
  • (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
相同xiāngtóngHSK 3

identical

  • identical
  • same
相信xiāngxìnHSK 3

to believe

  • to believe
  • to be convinced
  • to accept as true
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
香蕉xiāngjiāoHSK 3

banana

xiàngHSK 3

to resemble

  • to resemble
  • to be like
  • to look as if
  • such as
  • appearance
  • image
  • portrait
  • image under a mapping (math.)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
小心xiǎoxīnHSK 3

to be careful

校长xiàozhǎngHSK 3

(college, university) president

  • (college, university) president
  • headmaster
  • CL:个,位,名
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
xiéHSK 3

shoe

  • shoe
  • CL:双,只
新闻xīnwénHSK 3

news

新鲜xīnxiānHSK 3

fresh (experience, food etc)

  • fresh (experience, food etc)
  • freshness
  • novel
  • uncommon
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
xìnHSK 3

letter

  • letter
  • mail
  • CL:封
  • to trust
  • to believe
  • to profess faith in
  • truthful
  • confidence
  • trust
  • at will
  • at random
行李箱xínglixiāngHSK 3

suitcase

  • suitcase
  • baggage compartment
  • overhead bin
  • (car) trunk
  • boot
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
兴趣xìngqùHSK 3

interest (desire to know about sth)

  • interest (desire to know about sth)
  • interest (thing in which one is interested)
  • hobby
  • CL:个
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
熊猫xióngmāoHSK 3

panda

需要xūyàoHSK 3

to need

  • to need
  • to want
  • to demand
  • to require
  • needs
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
选择xuǎnzéHSK 3

to select

  • to select
  • to pick
  • choice
  • option
  • alternative
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
眼镜yǎnjìngHSK 3

spectacles

  • spectacles
  • eyeglasses
  • CL:副
要求yāoqiúHSK 3

to request

  • to request
  • to require
  • requirement
  • to stake a claim
  • to ask
  • to demand
  • CL:点
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →

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.

1

Read the list once, do not memorise it

You are looking for which words feel unfamiliar, not trying to learn them here.

2

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.

3

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.

4

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.

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.

More HSK 6