Chinese symbol for “must”
必须
bì xū
Traditional: 必須
must; to have to
The closest CC-CEDICT match for must is 必须 (bì xū), defined as: must; to have to.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “must”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 须 (須) | xū | must; to have to |
| 应该 (應該) | yīng gāi | ought to; should; must |
| 非得 | fēi děi | (followed by a verb phrase, then – optionally – 不可, or 不行 etc) must |
| 务必 (務必) | wù bì | must; to need to |
| 总得 (總得) | zǒng děi | must; have to |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 必须.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 必要 | bì yào | necessary; essential |
| 必然 | bì rán | inevitable; certain |
| 不必 | bù bì | need not; does not have to |
| 未必 | wèi bì | not necessarily; maybe not |
| 必定 | bì dìng | to be bound to; to be sure to |
| 无须 (無須) | wú xū | need not; not obliged to |
| 须要 (須要) | xū yào | must; have to |
| 须知 (須知) | xū zhī | key information; instructions |
See also: Japanese symbol for “must”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.