澡 meaning and stroke order
To wash, to bathe
How to write 澡, stroke by stroke
16 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
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
Meaning of 澡
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- bath
How 澡 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 喿 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 澡
The water radical 氵 on the left tells you this is about washing, and 喿 (zào) on the right gives the sound. Picture 喿 as three little mouths 口 over a tree 木, all chattering away while you splash in the bath.
澡 almost never appears alone. It lives inside words like 洗澡 (xǐzǎo), 泡澡 (pàozǎo) and 冲澡 (chōngzǎo). Example: 我每天晚上洗澡。 (Wǒ měitiān wǎnshang xǐzǎo.) I take a bath every evening.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 澡 (zǎo) with 燥 (zào, dry) and 躁 (zào, restless), which share the same right side. Only 澡 has the water radical 氵, and it is third tone, not fourth.
Common words with 澡
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
澡 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 澡
Learning 澡 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 澡
How many strokes are in 澡?
澡 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 澡 mean?
澡 (zǎo) means to wash, to bathe. A common word with it is 洗澡 (xǐzǎo), meaning "to bathe; to take a shower".
How do you pronounce 澡?
澡 is pronounced zǎo, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 澡?
The radical of 澡 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 澡 under this radical.
Is 澡 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 澡 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
Does 洗澡 mean a bath or a shower?
Both. 洗澡 (xǐzǎo) is the general word for washing your body. If you want to be specific, say 冲澡 (chōngzǎo) for a shower and 泡澡 (pàozǎo) for soaking in a tub.
Can I split 洗澡 with other words in between?
Yes. 洗澡 is a verb plus object, so you can say 洗个澡 (xǐ ge zǎo, take a quick bath) or 洗了澡 (xǐ le zǎo, took a bath). You can also say 洗热水澡 (xǐ rèshuǐzǎo) for a hot bath or shower.