奧 meaning and stroke order
Mysterious, obscure, profound; used in transliterations
How to write 奧, stroke by stroke
13 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
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
Meaning of 奧
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- obscure
- mysterious
How 奧 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A person 大 discovering a house full of rice 釆.
Radical: 大 (big), shared by 46 characters on this site.
How to remember 奧
Picture a person 大 stepping into a dark house and finding it full of rice 釆 hidden deep inside. Finding treasure tucked away in the inner rooms suggests something deep, hidden and mysterious.
奧 (ào) is the traditional form. Simplified Chinese writes 奥. It appears in words about depth and mystery, like 奥秘 (àomì) and 深奥 (shēn'ào), and in transliterations such as 奥运会 (Àoyùnhuì). Example: 这本书太深奥了。(Zhè běn shū tài shēn'ào le.) This book is too profound.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 奥 with 澳 (ào), which adds the water radical 氵 and is used in 澳门 (Àomén, Macau) and 澳大利亚 (Àodàlìyà, Australia). Use 奥 for the Olympics and Austria (奥地利), and use 澳 for Macau and Australia.
Common words with 奧
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 奧
How many strokes are in 奧?
奧 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 奧 mean?
奧 (ào) means mysterious, obscure, profound; used in transliterations. A common word with it is 奥运会 (Àoyùnhuì), meaning "Olympic Games; the Olympics (abbr. for 奧林匹克運動會|奥林匹克运动会[Ao4 lin2 pi3 ke4 Yun4 dong4 hui4])".
How do you pronounce 奧?
奧 is pronounced ào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 奧?
The radical of 奧 is 大, which carries the idea of "big". Dictionaries list 奧 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 奧?
奧 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 奥, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 奥 appear in the word for the Olympics?
奥运会 is short for 奥林匹克运动会, where 奥林匹克 (Àolínpǐkè) is a sound transliteration of Olympic. Here 奥 is chosen for its sound, not its meaning of mystery.
What is the difference between 奥秘 and 秘密?
奥秘 (àomì) means a deep mystery, like the mysteries of the universe or nature. 秘密 (mìmì) is an ordinary secret that someone keeps, like a personal secret.