Searching CHDICT

Simply enter Hanzi, Pinyin or Hungarian words in the search field to search the dictionary. No codes or special characters are needed; the website will recognize any form of query.

Pinyin

Pinyin syllables can include tone marks, but don't need to: zhongwen and zhong1wen2 both work.

You can separate Pinyin syllables with spaces, but you don't need to: zhong wen and zhongwen both work. So do xi an and xi'an for syllables that start with a vowel.

Handwriting recognition

Click on the brush icon for handwriting recognition. This is particularly useful if you come across an unknown character and don't want to bother with the "old-fashioned" radical-plus-strokes lookup.

Annotation

If you enter a long query of Hanzi characters that do not appear in the dictionary as a whole, the website will try to find the individual words in it. The result is an annotated form of your search text.

Stroke order animations

By clicking on a Hanzi in a headword after a search you can view the character's stroke order animation. Animations are available for 9,374 characters, both simplified and traditional. All Hanzi up to HSK Level 6 are included.

Searching for Hungarian words

If you enter at least three letters into the search field, a drop-down list with suggestions appears. The list includes words with an extra accent on vowels, so you can find örül by only typing orul on a keyboard that does not have Hungarian keys.

The search also returns compounds and composite verbs by their parts, so if you search for hallgat, the results will include meghallgat, elhallgat and others.

Tone colors; simplified and traditional

Click on the cogwheel icon to bring up search options. You can choose to view search results in simplified characters, traditional, or both; and you can decide if you wish to color Hanzi to indicate tone.