燥 meaning and stroke order
Arid, dry, parched; quick-tempered
How to write 燥, stroke by stroke
17 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 燥
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- dry; parched
- impatient; vexed
- (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [sao4]) minced meat
How 燥 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fire.
火 gives the meaning and 喿 hints at the sound.
Radical: 火 (fire), shared by 128 characters on this site.
How to remember 燥
燥 has fire 火 on the left, which gives the meaning of heat drying things out. The right part 喿 is a sound hint, so picture fire 火 drying out the air until everything is parched.
燥 rarely stands alone and usually appears in words like 干燥 (gānzào, dry) and 枯燥 (kūzào, dull, tedious). It can describe weather, skin, or a boring task. Example: 北方的冬天很干燥。(Běifāng de dōngtiān hěn gānzào.) Winters in the north are very dry.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 燥 (zào, dry) with 躁 (zào, restless) because they sound the same and share 喿. Remember that fire 火 dries things, while the foot 足 in 躁 suggests restless feet, as in 急躁 (jízào, impatient) and 烦躁 (fánzào, irritable).
Common words with 燥
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
燥 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 燥
How many strokes are in 燥?
燥 is written with 17 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 燥 mean?
燥 (zào) means arid, dry, parched; quick-tempered. A common word with it is 干燥 (gānzào), meaning "(of weather, climate, soil etc) dry; arid; (of skin, mouth etc) dry".
How do you pronounce 燥?
燥 is pronounced zào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 燥?
The radical of 燥 is 火, which carries the idea of "fire". Dictionaries list 燥 under this radical.
Is 燥 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 燥 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 燥 also mean impatient or vexed?
The dictionary lists impatient and vexed as senses of 燥, likely extending the idea of dry heat to a hot temper. In modern writing, though, the restless sense is usually written 躁, so use 燥 mainly for dryness.
What is the difference between 干燥 and 枯燥?
干燥 (gānzào) means physically dry, like air, skin, or soil. 枯燥 (kūzào) is figurative and means dull or tedious, for example 这本书很枯燥 (zhè běn shū hěn kūzào), this book is boring.