聪 meaning and stroke order
Sharp (of sight and hearing); intelligent, clever, bright
How to write 聪, stroke by stroke
15 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 聪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) acute (of hearing)
- (bound form) clever; intelligent; sharp
How 聪 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Ear.
耳 gives the meaning and 总 hints at the sound.
Radical: 耳 (ear), shared by 34 characters on this site.
How to remember 聪
聪 (cōng) puts an ear 耳 on the left next to 总 (zǒng), which gives the sound. Picture someone whose ears catch everything. A sharp listener is a clever person.
聪 is almost never used alone in modern Chinese. It appears in words like 聪明 (cōngmíng, clever) and 聪慧 (cōnghuì, bright). Example: 这个孩子很聪明。(Zhège háizi hěn cōngmíng.) This child is very clever.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 总 without care, or mix up 聪 with 耻 (chǐ, shame), which also has 耳 on the left. Also note that 聪明 is often said with a neutral tone, cōngming, in everyday speech.
Common words with 聪
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
聪 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 聪
How many strokes are in 聪?
聪 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 聪 mean?
聪 (cōng) means sharp (of sight and hearing); intelligent, clever, bright. A common word with it is 聪明 (cōngmíng), meaning "intelligent; clever; bright; acute (of sight and hearing)".
How do you pronounce 聪?
聪 is pronounced cōng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 聪?
The radical of 聪 is 耳, which carries the idea of "ear". Dictionaries list 聪 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 聪?
The traditional form of 聪 is 聰. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 聪 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 聪 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 聪 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Is 小聪明 a compliment?
Usually not. 小聪明 (xiǎocōngming) means being clever in small, often sneaky ways, and it suggests a lack of real wisdom. 自作聪明 (zìzuòcōngmíng) is also negative and means thinking you are smarter than you are.
What is the difference between 聪明 and 聪慧?
聪明 is the everyday word for smart and works in any context. 聪慧 is more formal and literary. It is often used in writing to praise someone, especially a child or a young woman, as bright and perceptive.