怠 meaning and stroke order
Idle; negligent, remiss; to neglect
How to write 怠, stroke by stroke
9 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 怠
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- idle
- lazy
- negligent
- careless
How 怠 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mind.
心 gives the meaning and 台 hints at the sound.
Radical: 心 (heart), shared by 97 characters on this site.
How to remember 怠
怠 puts 台 (tái) on top of 心 (xīn, heart or mind). Picture a heart that just sits on a platform and does nothing, a mind that has gone idle. 台 also hints at the sound dài.
怠 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in words like 怠慢 (dàimàn, to slight or treat coldly) and 怠工 (dàigōng, to slack off at work), and in the set phrase 懈怠 (xièdài, to slack off). Example: 对不起，怠慢了。(Duìbuqǐ, dàimàn le.) Sorry, I have not been a good host.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 怠 (dài) with 殆 (dài, danger, almost), which has the same sound and the same 台 part but uses 歹 instead of 心. Also do not read it as tái just because 台 is on top.
Common words with 怠
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
怠 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 怠
How many strokes are in 怠?
怠 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 怠 mean?
怠 (dài) means idle; negligent, remiss; to neglect. A common word with it is 怠慢 (dàimàn), meaning "to slight; to neglect".
How do you pronounce 怠?
怠 is pronounced dài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 怠?
The radical of 怠 is 心, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 怠 under this radical.
Is 怠 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 怠 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 怠慢 only used when someone is rude?
No. Hosts often say 怠慢了 (dàimàn le) as a polite, humble phrase, meaning they fear they did not treat a guest well enough. In other contexts it means really neglecting or snubbing someone.
How is 怠 different from 懒 (lǎn)?
懒 is the everyday word for lazy, as in 他很懒 (tā hěn lǎn). 怠 is more formal and stresses neglecting a duty or a person, so it shows up in compounds like 怠工 and 懈怠 rather than on its own.