硬
yìng · HSK 5
hard
🪨 石 stone + 更 even more = even more solid than stone, i.e. hard
硬 combines 石 (stone) with 更 (even more, further), giving the sense of something even firmer than rock. Use it for hard objects, stiff textures, and tough or unyielding character.
硬 — stone 石 + 更 (gēng, phonetic)
硬 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 石 'stone' gives the meaning—stones are hard—while the right side 更 originally suggested the pronunciation. From the literal sense of stone-hardness, 硬 extended to mean firm, stiff, or stubborn in both physical and figurative uses.