要
·
Spell out: + = · + =
to want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]); (bound form) important
9 strokes
Dict coverage rank #489 U+8981
How 要 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
A woman 女 with hands on her waist 覀
How to remember it
want · Heisig RSH #1254
Old West + 女 woman
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Characters built with 要 as their sound component
These characters all use 要 (yào) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 要 sound component | yào | essential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand |
| 腰 | yāo | waist, lower back; middle; pocket |
| 崾 | yǎo | a place name in Shanxi province |
Words containing 要
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 死要面子 | sǐ yào miàn zi | to regard face as all-important; to consider loss of face unthinkable |
| 要面子 | yào miàn zi | see 愛面子|爱面子[ai4 mian4 zi5] |
| 高要区 | Gāo yāo Qū | Gaoyao, a district of Zhaoqing City 肇慶市|肇庆市[Zhao4 qing4 Shi4], Guangdong |
| 重要性 | zhòng yào xìng | importance |
| 要不得 | yào bu de | intolerable; unacceptable |
| 要不然 | yào bù rán | otherwise; or else; or |
| 要死不活 | yào sǐ bù huó | half dead; more dead than alive |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 要不 | yào bù | otherwise; or else; how about...?; either... (or...) |
| 大要 | dà yào | abstract; gist; main points |
| 要子 | yào zi | straw rope |
| 要人 | yào rén | important person |
| 有话要说 | yǒu huà yào shuō | to speak one's mind |
| 要地 | yào dì | strategic location |
| 自要 | zì yào | so long as; provided that |
| 要风得风，要雨得雨 | yào fēng dé fēng , yào yǔ dé yǔ | to get whatever one wants; to have everything going one's way |
| 机要 | jī yào | (attributive) (of a person) involved in sensitive, confidential work; (of information) sec… |
| 要有 | yào yǒu | to need; to require; must have |
| 会要 | huì yào | dynastic records of imperial China |
| 千金要方 | Qiān jīn Yào fāng | Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold, early Tang compendium of herbal medicine by Sun Si… |