儡 meaning and stroke order
Puppet, dummy
How to write 儡, stroke by stroke
17 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 儡
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 傀儡[kui3 lei3]
How 儡 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 畾 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 儡
儡 (lěi) puts the person radical 亻 next to 畾, which gives the sound lěi. Picture a person made of stacked blocks, a stiff dummy that cannot move on its own.
儡 almost never appears alone. It lives in the word 傀儡 (kuǐlěi), which means a puppet, either a real string puppet or a person or government controlled by someone else. Example: 他只是一个傀儡。(Tā zhǐshì yí gè kuǐlěi.) He is just a puppet.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 儡 with 擂 (léi, to pound) or 蕾 (lěi, flower bud), since all three share the 畾 or 雷-like sound part. Remember that only 儡 has the person radical 亻, because a puppet looks like a person.
Common words with 儡
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 傀儡 | kuǐlěi | (lit. and fig.) puppet |
儡 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 儡
How many strokes are in 儡?
儡 is written with 17 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 儡 mean?
儡 (lěi) means puppet, dummy. A common word with it is 傀儡 (kuǐlěi), meaning "(lit. and fig.) puppet".
How do you pronounce 儡?
儡 is pronounced lěi, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 儡?
The radical of 儡 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 儡 under this radical.
How do you pronounce 傀儡 correctly?
It is kuǐlěi, with two third tones. In normal speech the first syllable changes toward a second tone, so it sounds like kuílěi.
What is a puppet government in Chinese?
It is 傀儡政府 (kuǐlěi zhèngfǔ). You can also say 傀儡政权 (kuǐlěi zhèngquán) for a puppet regime.