淚 meaning and stroke order
Tears; to cry, to weep
How to write 淚, 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 淚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) tears; teardrops
How 淚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 戾 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 淚
淚 (lèi) is water 氵 on the left plus 戾 (lì) on the right, which gives the sound. Think of tears as the water that comes out when someone is hurt or upset.
淚 is a bound form, so it usually appears inside words like 眼淚 (yǎnlèi, tears) and 淚水 (lèishuǐ, tears) rather than alone. It is the traditional form used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Example: 她流淚了。(Tā liúlèi le.) She shed tears.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up the traditional 淚 with the simplified 泪, which uses 目 (eye) instead of 戾. Use 淚 in traditional texts and 泪 in simplified ones, and do not combine the two systems in one sentence.
Common words with 淚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 淚
How many strokes are in 淚?
淚 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 淚 mean?
淚 (lèi) means tears; to cry, to weep. A common word with it is 眼泪 (yǎnlèi), meaning "tear; teardrop".
How do you pronounce 淚?
淚 is pronounced lèi, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 淚?
The radical of 淚 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 淚 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 淚?
淚 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 泪, used in mainland China and Singapore.
How do you say 'to cry' in Chinese, and is it 淚?
The everyday verb for cry is 哭 (kū). 淚 refers to the tears themselves, so you say 流淚 (liúlèi) or 落淚 (luòlèi) for shedding tears, which sounds a bit more descriptive or literary.
What does 催淚瓦斯 mean?
催淚瓦斯 (cuīlèi wǎsī) means tear gas. 催淚 means to induce tears, and 瓦斯 is a loanword for gas. 催淚 also describes a movie or story that makes people cry.