开玩笑

Character by character

• 开kāi4 strokesHSK 1 traditional 開open; initiate, begin, start
• 玩wán8 strokesHSK 1play with, joke, enjoy
• 笑xiào10 strokesHSK 1smile, laugh, giggle; snicker

Each character links to its stroke order page with a tracing and a writing exercise.

Words with the same characters

These words share at least one character with 开玩笑. Reading them together is how the character starts to stick — the same characters in a different context.

• 开始kāi shǐHSK 3

  to begin; beginning; to start; initial

• 开kāiHSK 1

  to open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run; to boil; to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc); (directional complement) away; off; carat (gold); abbr. for Kelvin, 开尔文; abbr. for 开本, book format

• 笑xiàoHSK 1

  to laugh; to smile; to laugh at

• 玩wán

  to play; to have fun; to trifle with; toy; sth used for amusement; curio or antique (Taiwan pr. [wàn]); to keep sth for entertainment

• 离开lí kāiHSK 2

  to depart; to leave

• 开心kāi xīnHSK 2

  to feel happy; to rejoice; to have a great time; to make fun of sb

• 打开dǎ kāiHSK 1

  to open; to show (a ticket); to turn on; to switch on

• 公开gōng kāiHSK 3

  open; overt; public; to make public; to release

• 微笑wēi xiàoHSK 4

  smile; to smile

• 开车kāi chēHSK 1

  to drive a car

• 开发kāi fāHSK 3

  to exploit (a resource); to open up (for development); to develop

• 开放kāi fàngHSK 3

  to bloom; to open; to be open (to the public); to open up (to the outside); to be open-minded; unrestrained by convention; unconstrained in one's sexuality

• 展开zhǎn kāiHSK 3

  to unfold; to spread out; to open up; to launch; to carry out

• 玩具wán jùHSK 3

  plaything; toy

• 分开fēn kāiHSK 2

  to separate; to part

• 开口kāi kǒuHSK 7

  to open one's mouth; to start to talk

• 改革开放gǎi gé kāi fàngHSK 7

  to reform and open to the outside world; refers to Deng Xiaoping's policies from around 1980

• 笑容xiào róngHSK 6

  smile; smiling expression

• 笑话xiào huaHSK 2

  joke; jest; to laugh at; to mock

• 召开zhào kāiHSK 4

  to convene (a conference or meeting); to convoke; to call together

• 开会kāi huìHSK 1

  to hold a meeting; to attend a meeting

• 开通kāi tōngHSK 6

  to open (a new road or railway line); to set up (a hotline); to launch (a service); to subscribe to (a members-only service)

• 好笑hǎo xiàoHSK 7

  laughable; funny; ridiculous

• 开工kāi gōngHSK 7

  to begin work (of a factory or engineering operation); to start a construction job