惨 meaning and stroke order
Miserable; wretched; cruel
How to write 惨, stroke by stroke
11 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 惨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- miserable
- wretched
- cruel
- inhuman
- disastrous
- tragic
How 惨 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
忄 gives the meaning and 参 hints at the sound.
Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.
How to remember 惨
The heart radical 忄 on the left shows this is about feelings, and 参 (cān) on the right gives a hint of the sound cǎn. Picture a heart pierced by the three slanting strokes at the bottom of 参, and you have a miserable, wretched feeling.
惨 describes things that are tragic, painful, or badly damaged, and it often appears in set words like 悲惨 (bēicǎn) and 惨重 (cǎnzhòng). In casual speech people also use it to say something went really badly. Example: 他输得很惨。(Tā shū de hěn cǎn.) He lost badly.
Common mistake: Learners often read 惨 as cān or shēn because of the phonetic part 参, but the correct reading is third tone cǎn. Also do not confuse it with 掺 (chān, to mix), which has the hand radical 扌 instead of the heart radical 忄.
Common words with 惨
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 悲惨 | bēicǎn | miserable; tragic | HSK 6 |
| 惨痛 | cǎntòng | bitter; painful | HSK 7-9 |
| 惨重 | cǎnzhòng | disastrous | HSK 7-9 |
| 惨白 | cǎnbái | deathly pale | HSK 7-9 |
| 惨剧 | cǎnjù | tragedy; calamity | |
| 凄惨 | qīcǎn | plaintive; mournful | |
| 惨遭 | cǎnzāo | to suffer (defeat, death etc) | |
| 惨死 | cǎnsǐ | to die tragically; to meet with a violent death | |
| 惨不忍睹 | cǎnbùrěndǔ | lit. so horrible that one cannot bear to look (idiom); fig. miserable; horrendous; atrocio | |
| 惨败 | cǎnbài | to suffer a crushing defeat | |
| 惨烈 | cǎnliè | bitter; desperate | |
| 惨叫 | cǎnjiào | to scream; blood-curdling screech | |
| 惨案 | cǎn'àn | massacre; tragedy |
惨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 惨
How many strokes are in 惨?
惨 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 惨 mean?
惨 (cǎn) means miserable; wretched; cruel. A common word with it is 悲惨 (bēicǎn), meaning "miserable; tragic".
How do you pronounce 惨?
惨 is pronounced cǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 惨?
The radical of 惨 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 惨 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 惨?
The traditional form of 惨 is 慘. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 惨 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 惨 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 惨 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 惨了 mean in everyday Chinese?
惨了 (cǎn le) is a casual exclamation like "I'm done for" or "Oh no." People say it when they realize something bad is about to happen, such as forgetting homework.
Is 惨 only used for serious tragedies?
No. It can describe real disasters, as in 惨剧 (cǎnjù) tragedy, but it is also used lightly for everyday bad luck, like 今天好惨 (jīntiān hǎo cǎn), today was awful. Context tells you how serious it is.