TraceHanzi

懒 meaning and stroke order

lǎn

Lazy

HSK 616 strokesRadical 忄Traditional 嬾Traditional 懶
Strokes16
Pinyinlǎn
ToneTone 3
Frequency#2,281
Printable worksheetPractice all HSK 6 characters

How to write 懒, stroke by stroke

16 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. 1
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Meaning of 懒

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

lǎnthird tone (dipping)
  1. lazy
  2. variant of 懶|懒[lan3]

How 懒 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.

xīnheart+làito depend on

忄 gives the meaning and 赖 hints at the sound.

Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.

How to remember 懒

懒 is pictophonetic: the heart radical 忄 on the left gives the meaning, and 赖 (lài) on the right hints at the sound. Picture a heart that would rather rely on (赖) someone else than do the work itself.

懒 (lǎn) describes people who avoid effort. It also appears in very common words like 懒得 (lǎnde, can't be bothered) and 偷懒 (tōulǎn, to slack off). Example: 我今天懒得做饭。(Wǒ jīntiān lǎnde zuò fàn.) I can't be bothered to cook today.

Common mistake: Learners often read 懒 as lài because of the phonetic part 赖, but 懒 is third tone lǎn. Also keep the left side as the heart radical 忄, not 扌 or 亻.

Common words with 懒

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
懒得lǎndeto not feel like (doing sth); to be disinclined toHSK 7-9
偷懒tōulǎnto be lazy when effort is expected; to slack offHSK 7-9
懒惰lǎnduòidle; lazyHSK 7-9
懒鬼lǎnguǐlazybones; idle bum
懒虫lǎnchóng(coll.) lazybones
懒散lǎnsǎnindolent; negligent; slack

懒 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ认rèn识shí的de人rén中zhōng就jiù他tā最zuì懒lǎn了le。
He's the laziest person I know.
汤tāng姆mǔ绝jué不bú是shì笨bèn。他tā只zhǐ是shì懒lǎn而ér已yǐ。
Tom's definitely not stupid. He's just lazy.
我wǒ是shì据jù我wǒ所suǒ知zhī最zuì懒lǎn的de人rén。
I am the laziest person I know.
汤tāng姆mǔ其qí实shí并bìng不bù懒lǎn，相xiāng反fǎn他tā很hěn勤qín奋fèn。
Tom isn't a lazy boy. As a matter of fact, he works hard.
红hóng色sè的de鱼yú在zài湖hú里lǐ懒lǎn洋yáng洋yáng地dì游yóu泳yǒng。
The red fish is swimming lazily in the lake.

Questions about 懒

How many strokes are in 懒?

懒 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 懒 mean?

懒 (lǎn) means lazy. A common word with it is 懒得 (lǎnde), meaning "to not feel like (doing sth); to be disinclined to".

How do you pronounce 懒?

懒 is pronounced lǎn, in the third tone (dipping).

What is the radical of 懒?

The radical of 懒 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 懒 under this radical.

What is the traditional form of 懒?

The traditional form of 懒 is 嬾 and 懶. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 懒 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.

Is 懒 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 懒 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 懒 and 懒得?

懒 is an adjective meaning lazy, as in 他很懒 (tā hěn lǎn, he is lazy). 懒得 comes before a verb and means you don't feel like doing something right now, for example 懒得出门 (lǎnde chūmén, can't be bothered to go out).

Is calling someone 懒虫 rude?

懒虫 (lǎnchóng, lazybones) is colloquial and usually playful, often used with friends or family. 懒鬼 (lǎnguǐ) sounds harsher, so use it with more care.

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