掠 meaning and stroke order
To pillage, to ransack
How to write 掠, 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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- 11
Meaning of 掠
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to take over by force
- to rob
- to plunder
- to brush over
- to skim
- to sweep
How 掠 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Hand.
扌 gives the meaning and 京 hints at the sound.
Radical: 扌 (hand), shared by 342 characters on this site.
How to remember 掠
A hand 扌 reaches into the capital 京 (jīng) and grabs what it wants. Think of raiders sweeping into a rich city to plunder it.
掠 (lüè) appears mostly in compound words like 掠夺 (lüèduó, to plunder) and in the lighter sense of something quickly brushing past, as in 掠过 (lüèguò). Example: 一只鸟掠过水面。(Yì zhī niǎo lüèguò shuǐmiàn.) A bird skimmed across the surface of the water.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 掠 with 凉 (liáng, cool) or 晾 (liàng, to air-dry), which share the 京 part but have different radicals and sounds. Also remember the pinyin is lüè with ü, not lue pronounced like "loo".
Common words with 掠
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
掠 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 掠
How many strokes are in 掠?
掠 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 掠 mean?
掠 (lüè) means to pillage, to ransack. A common word with it is 掠夺 (lüèduó), meaning "to plunder; to rob".
How do you pronounce 掠?
掠 is pronounced lüè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 掠?
The radical of 掠 is 扌, which carries the idea of "hand". Dictionaries list 掠 under this radical.
Is 掠 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 掠 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you type lüè on a pinyin keyboard?
Most pinyin input methods use v in place of ü, so you type lve. Some also accept lue for this syllable.
Can 掠 be used without a violent meaning?
Yes. In 掠过 (lüèguò) it describes something moving quickly and lightly past, like wind, a shadow, or a smile crossing a face. Context tells you whether it means robbing or just sweeping by.