Chinese words starting with “wai”
29 words in our HSK vocabulary start with the syllable wai. They are sorted by how common they are, so the ones you are most likely to meet come first. The 8 most useful of them have their own page — they are listed first below.
Initial — · final uai · hear the four tones and see example characters →
- 1st tone 2
- 4th tone 27
Word counts by tone are counted on the first syllable of each word.
Common words with this syllable
- 外面wài miànHSK 3
outside (also pr. [wài mian] for this sense); surface; exterior; external appearance
- 外国wài guóHSK 1
foreign (country)
- 外交wài jiāoHSK 3
diplomacy; diplomatic; foreign affairs
- 外地wài dìHSK 2
parts of the country other than where one is
- 外语wài yǔHSK 1
foreign language
- 外边wài bianHSK 1
outside; outer surface; abroad; place other than one's home
- 外卖wài màiHSK 2
(of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal; takeout (business); takeout (meal)
- 外文wài wénHSK 3
foreign language (written)
All 29 words
| # | Word | Pinyin | POS | Meaning | Study list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 外 | wài | f | outside; in addition; foreign; external | |
| 2 | 外套 | wài tào | n | coat; jacket | |
| 3 | 外科 | wài kē | n | surgery (branch of medicine) | |
| 4 | 外表 | wài biǎo | n | external; outside; outward appearance | |
| 5 | 歪 | wāi | a,v | askew; at a crooked angle; devious; noxious; (coll.) to lie on one's side | |
| 6 | 外界 | wài jiè | n | the outside world; external | |
| 7 | 外出 | wài chū | v,vn | to go out; to go away (on a trip etc) | |
| 8 | 外婆 | wài pó | n | (coll.) mother's mother; maternal grandmother | |
| 9 | 外部 | wài bù | f | the outside; (attributive) external; exterior; surface | |
| 10 | 外来 | wài lái | b | external; foreign; outside | |
| 11 | 外星人 | wài xīng rén | n | space alien; extraterrestrial | |
| 12 | 外形 | wài xíng | n | figure; shape; external form; contour | |
| 13 | 外公 | wài gōng | n | (coll.) mother's father; maternal grandfather | |
| 14 | 外衣 | wài yī | n | outer clothing; semblance; appearance | |
| 15 | 外观 | wài guān | n | outward appearance | |
| 16 | 外号 | wài hào | n | nickname | |
| 17 | 外貌 | wài mào | n | profile; appearance | |
| 18 | 外交官 | wài jiāo guān | n | diplomat | |
| 19 | 外汇 | wài huì | n | foreign (currency) exchange | |
| 20 | 外企 | wài qǐ | foreign enterprise; company established in mainland China with direct investment from foreign entities or from investors in Taiwan, Macao or Hong Kong; abbr. for 外资企业 | ||
| 21 | 歪曲 | wāi qū | v,vn | to distort; to misrepresent | |
| 22 | 外头 | wài tou | f | outside; out | |
| 23 | 外行 | wài háng | n,a | layman; amateur | |
| 24 | 外援 | wài yuán | n | foreign aid; external aid; (sports) foreign player; player recruited from overseas | |
| 25 | 外籍 | wài jí | n | foreign (i.e. of foreign nationality) | |
| 26 | 外贸 | wài mào | n | foreign trade | |
| 27 | 外币 | wài bì | n | foreign currency | |
| 28 | 外向 | wài xiàng | a,an | extroverted (personality); (economics etc) export-oriented | |
| 29 | 外资 | wài zī | n | foreign investment |
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