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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 47514800 of 4,991 · page 96 of 100

可以kěyǐHSK 2

can

  • can
  • may
  • possible
  • able to
  • not bad
  • pretty good
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
HSK 2

subject

  • subject
  • course
  • CL:门
  • class
  • lesson
  • CL:堂,节
  • to levy
  • tax
  • form of divination
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
kuàiHSK 2

rapid

  • rapid
  • quick
  • speed
  • rate
  • soon
  • almost
  • to make haste
  • clever
  • sharp (of knives or wits)
  • forthright
  • plainspoken
  • gratified
  • pleased
  • pleasant
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
快乐kuàilèHSK 2

happy

lěiHSK 2

to accumulate

  • to accumulate
  • to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. )
  • continuous
  • repeated
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
chīHSK 2

mythical beast (archaic)

liǎngHSK 2

two

  • two
  • both
  • some
  • a few
  • tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
HSK 2

surname Lu

旅游lu:3yóuHSK 2

trip

  • trip
  • journey
  • tourism
  • travel
  • tour
  • to travel
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
màiHSK 2

to sell

  • to sell
  • to betray
  • to spare no effort
  • to show off or flaunt
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
mànHSK 2

slow

mángHSK 2

busy

měiHSK 2

each

妹妹mèimeiHSK 2

younger sister

ménHSK 2

surname Men

男人nánrénHSK 2

a man

  • a man
  • a male
  • men
  • CL:个
nínHSK 2

you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你)

  • you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
牛奶niúnǎiHSK 2

cow's milk

女人nu:3rénHSK 2

woman

  • woman
旁边pángbiānHSK 2

side

跑步pǎobùHSK 2

to run

  • to run
  • to jog
  • (military) to march at the double
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
piàoHSK 2

ticket

  • ticket
  • ballot
  • banknote
  • CL:张
  • person held for ransom
  • amateur performance of Chinese opera
  • classifier for groups, batches, business transactions
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
妻子qīzǐHSK 2

wife and children

起床qǐchuángHSK 2

to get out of bed

qiānHSK 2

thousand

qíngHSK 2

clear

去年qùniánHSK 2

last year

ràngHSK 2

to yield

  • to yield
  • to permit
  • to let sb do sth
  • to have sb do sth
  • to make sb (feel sad etc)
  • by (indicates the agent in a passive clause, like 被)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
上班shàngbānHSK 2

to go to work

  • to go to work
  • to be on duty
  • to start work
  • to go to the office
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
身体shēntǐHSK 2

the body

生病shēngbìngHSK 2

to fall ill

生日shēngrìHSK 2

birthday

时间shíjiānHSK 2

(concept of) time

  • (concept of) time
  • (duration of) time
  • (point in) time
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
事情shìqingHSK 2

affair

  • affair
  • matter
  • thing
  • business
  • CL:件,桩
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
手表shǒubiǎoHSK 2

wristwatch

手机shǒujīHSK 2

cell phone

sòngHSK 2

to send

  • to send
  • to deliver
  • to transmit
  • to give (as a present)
  • to see (sb) off
  • to accompany
  • to go along with
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
所以suǒyǐHSK 2

therefore

  • therefore
  • as a result
  • so
  • the reason why
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
HSK 2

it

HSK 2

to kick

  • to kick
  • to play (e.g. soccer)
  • (slang) butch (in a lesbian relationship)
HSK 2

surname Ti

跳舞tiàowǔHSK 2

to dance

wàiHSK 2

outside

  • outside
  • in addition
  • foreign
  • external
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
wánHSK 2

to finish

  • to finish
  • to be over
  • whole
  • complete
  • entire
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
wánHSK 2

to play

  • to play
  • to have fun
  • to trifle with
  • toy
  • sth used for amusement
  • curio or antique (Taiwan pr. )
  • to keep sth for entertainment
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
晚上wǎnshangHSK 2

evening

wéiHSK 2

as (in the capacity of)

  • as (in the capacity of)
  • to take sth as
  • to act as
  • to serve as
  • to behave as
  • to become
  • to be
  • to do
  • by (in the passive voice)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
wènHSK 2

to ask

问题wèntíHSK 2

question

西瓜xīguāHSK 2

watermelon

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