奇怪
strange; odd
HSK level
- Pinyin
- qíguài
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 16
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 3
Stroke order for 奇怪
奇怪 is written with 16 strokes (奇: 8, 怪: 8). The animation replays automatically.
What does 奇怪 mean?
奇怪 (qíguài) is the adjective for 'strange,' 'odd,' or 'weird' — describing something that surprises you because it doesn't fit expectations.
It applies broadly: a strange smell (奇怪的味道), strange behavior (奇怪的行为), a strange feeling (奇怪的感觉). It can also function as a verb of inner experience: 我很奇怪他为什么不来 ('I find it strange why he didn't come'). Two distinctions for English speakers: first, 奇怪 carries puzzlement more than judgment — it means 'this is unexpected,' not necessarily 'this is bad' (compare 'weird' in English, which can sound dismissive).
Second, the exclamatory 奇怪！on its own is extremely common — like English 'That's weird!' when something goes wrong (a missing key, a closed shop). Both characters mean 'strange,' so the compound is doubled for emphasis.
Character by character
Memory hook: Strange + strange = doubly strange = definitely weird.
Hear 奇怪 in real episodes
奇怪 appears in 3 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
奇怪的是，这些人不但在网上买，还愿意来商店买。
The surprising thing is that these people don't just buy online, they're also happy to come to the shop.
Opened at 11, Half a Million Fans: How TikTok Shop Turned a Small-Town British Fidget-Toy Shop Into a HitElementary
她还说，以后再出现两三百万美元的价钱，她也不会奇怪。
She also says she wouldn't be surprised to see prices of two or three million dollars again.
Crossing the Panama Canal Now Costs Up to $5 Million, as War and Drought Push Prices to a RecordElementary
奇怪的是，没有任何一只蝴蝶，能从头到尾走完这段旅程。
The strange thing is that no single butterfly ever completes the whole journey from start to finish.
No Monarch Butterfly Ever Finishes Its Own Migration — the Trip Takes Four GenerationsIntermediate
Example sentences
这个声音很奇怪。
Zhège shēngyīn hěn qíguài.
This sound is very strange.
spoken
奇怪，我的钥匙在哪儿？
Qíguài, wǒ de yàoshi zài nǎr?
How strange — where are my keys?
spoken
他今天的样子有点奇怪。
Tā jīntiān de yàngzi yǒudiǎn qíguài.
He looks a bit strange today.
spoken
我觉得这件事很奇怪。
Wǒ juéde zhè jiàn shì hěn qíguài.
I find this matter very strange.
neutral
不要做奇怪的动作。
Búyào zuò qíguài de dòngzuò.
Don't make strange movements.
neutral
Common phrases with 奇怪
Synonyms
怪 alone can mean 'strange / weird' more colloquially (这人很怪 = this person is weird). 奇怪 is the standard two-character adjective. 怪 also has the meaning 'to blame' (别怪我 = don't blame me), which 奇怪 lacks.
奇特 means 'peculiar / unusual / unique' with a slightly positive or admiring tone — like English 'remarkable.' 奇怪 is more neutral or puzzled. A unique design is 奇特; a strange noise at night is 奇怪.
Don't confuse 奇怪 with
奇妙 means 'wonderful / marvelous' — strange in a positive, magical sense. 奇怪 means strange in a puzzling sense. Nature's beauty is 奇妙; a missing wallet is 奇怪.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 奇怪 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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