妞 meaning and stroke order
Girl
How to write 妞, stroke by stroke
7 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 妞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- girl
How 妞 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Woman.
女 gives the meaning and 丑 hints at the sound.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 妞
妞 combines 女 (woman) on the left, which gives the meaning, with 丑 (chǒu) on the right, which hints at the sound. Picture a woman 女 next to the sound clue 丑, and you get niū, a girl.
妞 is a casual, colloquial word for a girl, common in northern Chinese speech and often used in the form 妞儿 (niūr) or 小妞 (xiǎoniū). It can sound affectionate or slangy depending on context. Example: 这个小妞真可爱。(Zhège xiǎoniū zhēn kě'ài.) This little girl is really cute.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 妞 as chǒu because of the 丑 component, but the correct reading is niū in the first tone. Also, 丑 alone means ugly, so do not assume 妞 carries that meaning; the 丑 part only hints at the sound.
Common words with 妞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 泡妞 | pàoniū | to pick up girls; to play around with girls |
妞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 妞
How many strokes are in 妞?
妞 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 妞 mean?
妞 (niū) means girl. A common word with it is 泡妞 (pàoniū), meaning "to pick up girls; to play around with girls".
How do you pronounce 妞?
妞 is pronounced niū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 妞?
The radical of 妞 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 妞 under this radical.
Is 泡妞 (pàoniū) a polite word to use?
No, 泡妞 is slang meaning to pick up girls or flirt with them. It is fine among friends in casual talk, but it can sound crude in formal settings or when talking to women directly.
What is the difference between 妞 and 女孩 (nǚhái)?
女孩 is the neutral, standard word for girl and works in any situation. 妞 is colloquial and has a playful or familiar tone, so it is better suited to informal speech.