Character Familiesleft / right

渴kě

thirsty; eager; thirsting for

渴 means thirsty; it also describes an eager thirst for something you want.

GF0025–2021 character list · 一级

One character pageAll readings and linked senses stay together.

WHOLE GLYPH & STRUCTURE

left / right

ZDIC: 形声; the water side carries the meaning, 曷 the sound.

left / right · 渴

WHOLE CHARACTER

thirsty; eager; thirsting for

渴 means thirsty; it also describes an eager thirst for something you want.

ZDIC: 形声; the water side carries the meaning, 曷 the sound.

MEANING

water (as the source idea 水)

A component form of 水; not counted as a standalone character page.

In 渴: meaning Shown with its documented or clearly limited role.

SOUND

why; when; how

A literary interrogative; kept separate from its sound role.

In 渴: sound Sound side per ZDIC: hé shares 渴's final e; the initials differ (h: fricative; k: aspirated stop) and the tones differ (2 vs 3).

kěTone 3

Checking for a Mandarin voice…

ZDIC: 形声; the water side carries the meaning, 曷 the sound.

清 qīng — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 渴.

河 hé — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 渴.

海 hǎi — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 渴.

灪 yù — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 渴.

Sources & verification

ZDIC single character entry — matched zdic; fields: pinyin, primary_definition, structure_strokes. Body SHA256: 550b32b87482e96c4140f961afd07b290d4fa8bc70e8168c330bf8f9db4e592e. Captured 2026-11-01T01:46:10.124Z.
商务印书馆 Xinhua Dictionary official material — reference only; fields: edition, publication background. No specific character entry was obtained; dictionary fields are not covered.