淆 meaning and stroke order
Confused, mixed up, in disarray
How to write 淆, 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 淆
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- confused and disorderly
- mixed
- Taiwan pr. [yao2]
- variant of 淆[xiao2]
How 淆 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 肴 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 淆
淆 combines water 氵 with 肴 (yáo, cooked dishes), which gives the sound. Picture food dumped into water until everything is mixed up and you cannot tell one thing from another.
淆 almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. You will meet it mainly in the word 混淆 (hùnxiáo), meaning to confuse or blur the line between things. Example: 不要混淆是非。(Bú yào hùnxiáo shìfēi.) Don't confuse right and wrong.
Common mistake: Learners often read 淆 as yáo because of its phonetic part 肴 (yáo). In mainland standard Mandarin it is xiáo. The Taiwan reading yáo exists, but it is a regional pronunciation.
Common words with 淆
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 混淆 | hùnxiáo | to obscure; to confuse | HSK 7-9 |
淆 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 淆
How many strokes are in 淆?
淆 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 淆 mean?
淆 (xiáo) means confused, mixed up, in disarray. A common word with it is 混淆 (hùnxiáo), meaning "to obscure; to confuse".
How do you pronounce 淆?
淆 is pronounced xiáo, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 淆?
The radical of 淆 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 淆 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 淆?
The traditional form of 淆 is 殽. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 淆 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 淆 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 淆 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 混淆 and 混乱?
混淆 (hùnxiáo) means mixing up two things that should be kept apart, such as facts or concepts. 混乱 (hùnluàn) describes a general state of chaos or disorder, like a messy situation or a crowd.
Is 混淆 used in everyday speech?
It is fairly formal and appears more in writing, news, and discussions. In casual speech people often say 搞混 (gǎohùn) or 弄混 (nònghùn) instead, as in 我把他们俩搞混了 (I mixed the two of them up).