艷 meaning and stroke order
Beautiful, glamorous, sexy, voluptuous
How to write 艷, 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 艷
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 豔|艳[yan4]
How 艷 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Lush 豐 and sexy 色.
Radical: 色 (color), shared by 4 characters on this site.
How to remember 艷
On the left is 豐 (fēng), meaning lush or abundant, and on the right is 色 (sè), meaning color or looks. Abundant color and looks together give you 艷 (yàn), something gorgeous and eye-catching.
艷 is a variant form of 艳 (yàn). Mainland China uses 艳, while you may see 艷 or 豔 in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and older texts. It appears in words about bright colors and striking beauty, for example 这朵花颜色很鲜艳。(Zhè duǒ huā yánsè hěn xiānyàn.) This flower is very brightly colored.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes mix up the left part 豐 (fēng, abundant) with 豊 or with 礼 (lǐ) forms, and miss the full 豐 shape with its two 丰 on top. Also note the tone is fourth tone yàn, not yán like 颜 (yán, color) in 颜色.
Common words with 艷
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 艷
How many strokes are in 艷?
艷 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 艷 mean?
艷 (yàn) means beautiful, glamorous, sexy, voluptuous. A common word with it is 鲜艳 (xiānyàn), meaning "bright-colored; gaily-colored".
How do you pronounce 艷?
艷 is pronounced yàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 艷?
The radical of 艷 is 色, which carries the idea of "color". Dictionaries list 艷 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 艷?
艷 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 艳, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Does 艷 always have a sexual meaning?
No. In words like 鲜艳 (xiānyàn) and 艳丽 (yànlì) it simply means bright or gorgeous, often about colors or flowers. Words like 艳舞 (yànwǔ) and 艳遇 (yànyù) do carry a romantic or sensual tone, so context matters.
What does 惊艳 mean in everyday speech?
惊艳 (jīngyàn) means to be stunned by how impressive something is, and it is very common online. People use it for a beautiful performance, design, or dish, for example 他的表演让人惊艳。(Tā de biǎoyǎn ràng rén jīngyàn.) His performance was stunning.