媚 meaning and stroke order
Attractive, charming; to charm, to flatter
How to write 媚, stroke by stroke
12 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
Meaning of 媚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) to flatter
- (bound form) charming
How 媚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Woman.
女 gives the meaning and 眉 hints at the sound.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 媚
媚 is made of 女 (woman), the meaning part, and 眉 (méi, eyebrow), which gives the sound. Picture a woman raising her eyebrows in a charming way to win someone over.
媚 is a bound form, so it appears inside words rather than alone. It can be positive, as in 明媚 (míngmèi, bright and beautiful), or negative, meaning to flatter someone with power. Example: 今天阳光明媚。(Jīntiān yángguāng míngmèi.) The sun is shining brightly today.
Common mistake: Learners often read 媚 as méi because of its phonetic part 眉 (méi). The correct tone is fourth tone, mèi. Also do not confuse it with 妹 (mèi, younger sister), which has the same sound but a different right side, 未.
Common words with 媚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 明媚 | míngmèi | bright and beautiful | HSK 7-9 |
| 阳光明媚 | yángguāngmíngmèi | the sun shines brightly (idiom) |
Questions about 媚
How many strokes are in 媚?
媚 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 媚 mean?
媚 (mèi) means attractive, charming; to charm, to flatter. A common word with it is 明媚 (míngmèi), meaning "bright and beautiful".
How do you pronounce 媚?
媚 is pronounced mèi, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 媚?
The radical of 媚 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 媚 under this radical.
Is 媚 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 媚 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 媚 a compliment or an insult?
It depends on the word. In 明媚 and 妩媚 (wǔmèi, charming and graceful) it is positive. In 谄媚 (chǎnmèi, to fawn on) and 媚外 (mèiwài, to fawn on foreigners) it means flattering in a servile way.
Can I use 明媚 to describe a person?
明媚 is mostly used for scenery, sunlight and spring weather, as in 春光明媚 (chūnguāng míngmèi). It can describe bright eyes or a lovely smile in literary writing, but for a person in general, 漂亮 (piàoliang) or 迷人 (mírén) is more natural.