漫 meaning and stroke order
Free; unrestrained; to inundate
How to write 漫, stroke by stroke
14 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 漫
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- free
- unrestrained
- to inundate
How 漫 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 曼 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 漫
漫 (màn) is water 氵 on the left plus 曼 (màn) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture water spreading freely in every direction until it floods everything, so it means overflowing, unrestrained, or stretching on and on.
漫 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese and mostly appears in words like 浪漫 (làngmàn, romantic), 漫长 (màncháng, very long), and 漫画 (mànhuà, comics). It often carries a sense of something spreading out or going on without limits. Example: 冬天的夜晚很漫长。(Dōngtiān de yèwǎn hěn màncháng.) Winter nights are very long.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 漫 with 慢 (màn, slow), since they sound identical and share 曼. Remember that 慢 has the heart radical 忄 for a slow pace, while 漫 has water 氵 for spreading, so 浪漫 is never written with 慢.
Common words with 漫
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 浪漫 | làngmàn | romantic | HSK 5 |
| 漫长 | màncháng | very long; endless | HSK 5 |
| 漫画 | mànhuà | comics; cartoon; caricature | HSK 5 |
| 漫游 | mànyóu | to travel around; to roam | HSK 7-9 |
| 弥漫 | mímàn | to pervade; to fill the air | HSK 7-9 |
| 漫步 | mànbù | to wander; to ramble | |
| 漫漫 | mànmàn | long; endless | |
| 漫画家 | mànhuàjiā | cartoon writer (from Japanese mangaka) | |
| 漫漫长夜 | mànmànchángyè | endless night (idiom); fig. long suffering | |
| 漫无目的 | mànwúmùdì | aimless; at random | |
| 动漫 | dòngmàn | cartoons and comics; anime and manga | |
| 漫天 | màntiān | lit. to fill the whole sky; everywhere |
漫 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 漫
How many strokes are in 漫?
漫 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 漫 mean?
漫 (màn) means free; unrestrained; to inundate. A common word with it is 浪漫 (làngmàn), meaning "romantic".
How do you pronounce 漫?
漫 is pronounced màn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 漫?
The radical of 漫 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 漫 under this radical.
Is 漫 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 漫 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 漫画 the same as Japanese manga?
Yes, 漫画 (mànhuà) is written with the same characters as the Japanese word manga. In Chinese it covers comics, cartoons, and caricatures in general, not only Japanese-style comics.
What does 漫 mean in 弥漫?
In 弥漫 (mímàn), 漫 keeps its sense of spreading everywhere. The word describes smoke, fog, or a smell filling the air, as in 雾气弥漫 (wùqì mímàn), fog filled the air.