癱 meaning and stroke order
Paralysis, palsy, numbness
How to write 癱, stroke by stroke
24 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 癱
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- paralyzed
How 癱 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sickness.
疒 gives the meaning and 難 hints at the sound.
Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.
How to remember 癱
The sickness radical 疒 wraps around 難 (nán), which gives the sound and also looks like "difficult." A sickness that makes moving difficult is paralysis, 癱 (tān).
癱 usually appears in the word 瘫痪 (tānhuàn), used for medical paralysis and, figuratively, for systems that break down. Example: 交通瘫痪了。(Jiāotōng tānhuàn le.) Traffic came to a standstill.
Common mistake: Learners often read it as nán because of the 難 part, but the sound is tān with a first tone. Also note that the simplified form is 瘫, which uses 难 inside the sickness radical.
Common words with 癱
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 癱瘓 | tānhuàn | (medicine) to suffer paralysis; (fig.) to be paralyzed; to break down; to come to a stands | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 癱
How many strokes are in 癱?
癱 is written with 24 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 癱 mean?
癱 (tān) means paralysis, palsy, numbness. A common word with it is 瘫痪 (tānhuàn), meaning "(medicine) to suffer paralysis; (fig.) to be paralyzed; to break down; to come to a stands".
How do you pronounce 癱?
癱 is pronounced tān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 癱?
The radical of 癱 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 癱 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 癱?
癱 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 瘫, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Can 瘫 describe being exhausted, not just medically paralyzed?
Yes. In casual speech 瘫在沙发上 (tān zài shāfā shang) means to collapse limply on the sofa from tiredness. It suggests lying there unable or unwilling to move.
How is 瘫痪 used for things that are not people?
It can describe networks, traffic, or organizations that stop working, such as 网络瘫痪 (wǎngluò tānhuàn), the network is down. This figurative use is very common in news reports.