翔 meaning and stroke order
To soar, to hover, to glide
How to write 翔, 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 翔
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to soar
- to glide
- variant of 詳|详[xiang2]
- (slang) shit
How 翔 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wings.
羽 gives the meaning and 羊 hints at the sound.
Radical: 羽 (feather), shared by 26 characters on this site.
How to remember 翔
翔 is pictophonetic: 羽 (yǔ, feathers or wings) gives the meaning, and 羊 (yáng, sheep) hints at the sound. Picture a sheep that grew wings and is gliding over the hills.
翔 is mostly used in two-character words such as 飞翔 (fēixiáng), 翱翔 (áoxiáng) and 滑翔 (huáxiáng), and these words sound a bit literary or descriptive. Example: 老鹰在天空中飞翔。(Lǎoyīng zài tiānkōng zhōng fēixiáng.) The eagle soars in the sky.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left part as 半 or forget that 羊 loses its long bottom stroke tail and narrows to fit beside 羽. Also say xiáng with a rising second tone, not xiǎng as in 想 (xiǎng, to think).
Common words with 翔
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
翔 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 翔
How many strokes are in 翔?
翔 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 翔 mean?
翔 (xiáng) means to soar, to hover, to glide. A common word with it is 飞翔 (fēixiáng), meaning "to circle in the air; to soar".
How do you pronounce 翔?
翔 is pronounced xiáng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 翔?
The radical of 翔 is 羽, which carries the idea of "feather". Dictionaries list 翔 under this radical.
Is 翔 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 翔 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why do people online use 翔 to mean shit?
In internet slang 翔 is a playful stand-in for a rude word for excrement, as in 吃翔 (chī xiáng). It is crude and jokey, so avoid it in polite or formal settings.
What is the difference between 飞翔 and 翱翔?
Both mean to soar. 飞翔 (fēixiáng) is the more common, general word for flying gracefully, while 翱翔 (áoxiáng) is more literary and suggests wheeling or circling freely high in the sky.