痛 meaning and stroke order
Ache; pain; sorrow
How to write 痛, stroke by stroke
12 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
Meaning of 痛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- ache
- pain
- sorrow
- deeply
- thoroughly
How 痛 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sickness.
疒 gives the meaning and 甬 hints at the sound.
Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.
How to remember 痛
痛 is built from 疒, the sickness radical, wrapped around 甬 (yǒng), which hints at the sound. Picture someone lying sick under the 疒 roof, aching with pain.
痛 covers physical pain, emotional sorrow, and the adverb sense of doing something deeply or thoroughly, as in 痛恨 (tònghèn, to detest). It often follows a body part to say where it hurts. Example: 我头痛。 (Wǒ tóutòng.) I have a headache.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 痛 (tòng) and 疼 (téng). Both mean hurt, but 疼 is more colloquial for everyday aches, while 痛 is more common in written words like 痛苦 and in emotional senses like 悲痛. Also watch the inside part: it is 甬, not 用, so do not drop the small top stroke.
Common words with 痛
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 痛苦 | tòngkǔ | pain; suffering | HSK 3 |
| 痛快 | tòngkuài | delighted; to one's heart's content | HSK 4 |
| 疼痛 | téngtòng | pain; (of a body part) to be painful; to be sore; to hurt | HSK 6 |
| 悲痛 | bēitòng | grieved; sorrowful | HSK 7-9 |
| 痛心 | tòngxīn | grieved; pained | HSK 7-9 |
| 惨痛 | cǎntòng | bitter; painful | HSK 7-9 |
| 头痛 | tóutòng | to have a headache | |
| 痛恨 | tònghèn | to detest; to loathe | |
| 心痛 | xīntòng | to feel distressed about sth; heartache | |
| 伤痛 | shāngtòng | pain (from wound); sorrow | |
| 止痛药 | zhǐtòngyào | painkiller; analgesic | |
| 痛楚 | tòngchǔ | pain; anguish | |
| 刺痛 | cìtòng | to tingle; to sting; to have a sudden sharp pain; (fig.) to hurt deeply; tingle; prick; st | |
| 止痛 | zhǐtòng | to relieve pain; to stop pain |
痛 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 痛
How many strokes are in 痛?
痛 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 痛 mean?
痛 (tòng) means ache; pain; sorrow. A common word with it is 痛苦 (tòngkǔ), meaning "pain; suffering".
How do you pronounce 痛?
痛 is pronounced tòng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 痛?
The radical of 痛 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 痛 under this radical.
Is 痛 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 痛 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
Why does 痛快 mean happy if 痛 means pain?
In 痛快 (tòngkuài), 痛 carries its sense of thoroughly or to the full. So the word means delighted or doing something to one's heart's content, like 玩得很痛快 (had a great time).
Can 痛 be used alone as a verb like 'it hurts'?
Yes. You can say 很痛 (hěn tòng, it hurts a lot) or 哪里痛？ (nǎlǐ tòng, where does it hurt). In casual northern speech, 疼 is heard more often in these phrases.