睛 meaning and stroke order
Eyeball; pupil
How to write 睛, stroke by stroke
13 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 睛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- eye; eyeball
How 睛 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Eye.
目 gives the meaning and 青 hints at the sound.
Radical: 目 (eye), shared by 100 characters on this site.
How to remember 睛
睛 is pictophonetic: the eye radical 目 (mù) on the left gives the meaning, and 青 (qīng) on the right hints at the sound jīng. Picture a clear, bright 青 color shining inside an eye 目 to remember the eyeball.
睛 almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. You will mostly see it in 眼睛 (yǎnjing, eye) and in idioms like 画龙点睛 (huàlóng-diǎnjīng). Example: 她的眼睛很大。(Tā de yǎnjing hěn dà.) Her eyes are big.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 睛 with 晴 (qíng, sunny), which uses 日 (sun) instead of 目 (eye), and with 情 (qíng, feeling), which uses 忄. Also note that in 眼睛 the second syllable is usually said in the neutral tone, yǎnjing, not yǎnjīng.
Common words with 睛
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
睛 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 睛
How many strokes are in 睛?
睛 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 睛 mean?
睛 (jīng) means eyeball; pupil. A common word with it is 眼睛 (yǎnjing), meaning "eye".
How do you pronounce 睛?
睛 is pronounced jīng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 睛?
The radical of 睛 is 目, which carries the idea of "eye". Dictionaries list 睛 under this radical.
Is 睛 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 睛 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.
What does 画龙点睛 mean and when do people use it?
It literally means painting a dragon and then dotting in its eyes, which brings it to life. People use it to praise a small detail that makes a speech, essay, or design complete, such as a great final sentence.
Is 睛 the same as 眼 (yǎn)?
Both relate to the eye, but 眼 can stand alone in some phrases and forms many words, like 眼镜 (yǎnjìng, glasses). 睛 is mainly bound in words like 眼睛 and 目不转睛, so for everyday speech just say 眼睛.