爛 meaning and stroke order
Overcooked, overripe; rotten, spoiled
How to write 爛, stroke by stroke
21 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 爛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- soft; mushy
- well-cooked and soft
- to rot; to decompose
- rotten
- worn out
- chaotic; messy
How 爛 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fire.
火 gives the meaning and 闌 hints at the sound.
Radical: 火 (fire), shared by 128 characters on this site.
How to remember 爛
爛 has fire 火 on the left and 闌 (lán) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture food left over the fire 火 so long that it turns soft and mushy, and you have 爛 (làn).
爛 describes food cooked very soft, fruit that has gone rotten, things that are worn out, and, in casual speech, anything of poor quality. It appears in words like 腐爛 (fǔlàn, to rot) and 破爛 (pòlàn, worn-out). Example: 這個蘋果爛了。(Zhège píngguǒ làn le.) This apple has gone bad.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 爛 with 欄 (lán, railing) or 蘭 (lán, orchid), which look and sound similar. Only 爛 has the fire radical 火 and the fourth tone làn.
Common words with 爛
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 腐爛 | fǔlàn | to rot; to putrefy | HSK 7-9 |
| 燦爛 | cànlàn | to glitter; brilliant | HSK 7-9 |
| 破爛 | pòlàn | worn-out; dilapidated; tattered; ragged; (coll.) rubbish; junk | |
| 爛攤子 | làntānzi | terrible mess; shambles | |
| 爛透 | làntòu | rotten to the core | |
| 爛醉 | lànzuì | dead drunk; completely drunk | |
| 砸爛 | zálàn | to smash | |
| 爛泥 | lànní | mud; mire | |
| 爛醉如泥 | lànzuìrúní | (idiom) to be dead drunk; to be plastered | |
| 撕爛 | sīlàn | to tear up; to tear to pieces | |
| 稀巴爛 | xībālàn | smashed up; broken into pieces | |
| 焦頭爛額 | jiāotóulàn'é | lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom); fig. hard-presse | |
| 死纏爛打 | sǐchánlàndǎ | (coll.) to pester; to harass |
Questions about 爛
How many strokes are in 爛?
爛 is written with 21 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 爛 mean?
爛 (làn) means overcooked, overripe; rotten, spoiled. A common word with it is 腐烂 (fǔlàn), meaning "to rot; to putrefy".
How do you pronounce 爛?
爛 is pronounced làn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 爛?
The radical of 爛 is 火, which carries the idea of "fire". Dictionaries list 爛 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 爛?
爛 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 烂, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 燦爛 (cànlàn) mean brilliant if 爛 means rotten?
In 燦爛 the fire radical points to light and blazing brightness, so the word means glittering or splendid. It is a fixed word, so do not read it as rotten.
Can 爛 be used to say something is bad quality?
Yes. In casual speech 爛 means lousy, as in 他的中文很爛 (tā de Zhōngwén hěn làn, his Chinese is terrible). It is informal and a bit blunt, so use it with care.