沦 meaning and stroke order
Sunk, submerged; to perish, to be lost
How to write 沦, stroke by stroke
7 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
Meaning of 沦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to sink (into ruin, oblivion)
- to be reduced to
How 沦 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 仑 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 沦
沦 combines water 氵 with 仑 (lún), which gives the sound. Picture something slipping under the water and being lost, and you have the meaning "to sink" or "to be reduced to."
沦 is rarely used alone. It appears in compounds about falling into a worse state, such as 沦为 (lúnwéi), 沦落 (lúnluò) and 沦陷 (lúnxiàn). Example: 他沦为了乞丐。(Tā lúnwéi le qǐgài.) He was reduced to a beggar.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 沦 with 论 (lùn, to discuss) and 轮 (lún, wheel), which share the same 仑 part. Only 沦 has the water radical 氵, and it is second tone, not fourth like 论.
Common words with 沦
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 沦落 | lúnluò | to degenerate; impoverished | |
| 沦陷 | lúnxiàn | to fall into enemy hands; to be occupied | |
| 沦为 | lúnwéi | to sink down to; to be reduced to (sth inferior) | |
| 沉沦 | chénlún | to sink into (vice, depravity etc); to pass into oblivion |
Questions about 沦
How many strokes are in 沦?
沦 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 沦 mean?
沦 (lún) means sunk, submerged; to perish, to be lost. A common word with it is 沦落 (lúnluò), meaning "to degenerate; impoverished".
How do you pronounce 沦?
沦 is pronounced lún, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 沦?
The radical of 沦 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 沦 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 沦?
The traditional form of 沦 is 淪. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 沦 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 沉 and 沦?
沉 (chén) is the everyday word for physically sinking, as in 船沉了 (the boat sank). 沦 is more literary and usually describes sinking into a bad situation, ruin, or oblivion. They combine in 沉沦 (chénlún), to sink into vice or decline.
Is 沦 used in a positive or negative sense?
It is almost always negative. Words like 沦为 and 沦落 suggest falling into something worse, shameful, or unfortunate, and 沦陷 describes territory being lost to an enemy.