夯 meaning and stroke order
Burden, load; to lift up; to tamp down
How to write 夯, stroke by stroke
5 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Meaning of 夯
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 笨[ben4]
- to ram; to tamp
- a rammer; a tamper
- excellent; exceptionally good
- variant of ㄏㄤ[hang1]
How 夯 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A load that takes great 大 strength 力.
Radical: 大 (big), shared by 46 characters on this site.
How to remember 夯
夯 stacks 大 (dà, big) on top of 力 (lì, strength). Think of a heavy load that takes great strength to lift, then drop it hard to pack the earth down.
夯 (hāng) mostly means to ram or tamp soil firm, and also names the tool used to do it. It appears in compounds like 夯土 (hāngtǔ, rammed earth) and 打夯 (dǎ hāng, to tamp the ground). Example: 工人们在打夯。(Gōngrénmen zài dǎ hāng.) The workers are tamping the ground.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 夯 with 劣 (liè, inferior), because both have 力 at the bottom. 劣 has 少 on top, while 夯 has 大. Also keep the first tone, hāng, not háng.
Questions about 夯
How many strokes are in 夯?
夯 is written with 5 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 夯 mean?
夯 (hāng) means burden, load; to lift up; to tamp down.
How do you pronounce 夯?
夯 is pronounced hāng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 夯?
The radical of 夯 is 大, which carries the idea of "big". Dictionaries list 夯 under this radical.
Why is 夯 also read bèn?
The dictionary lists bèn as an old variant of 笨 (bèn, stupid, clumsy). You will rarely meet this reading in modern Chinese, so learn hāng first.
Does 夯 mean excellent in slang?
Yes. The dictionary data includes the sense excellent or exceptionally good, a meaning used in Taiwan slang. In mainland usage the core meanings are still to ram or tamp.