莞 meaning and stroke order
To smile; club-rush, Scirpus lacustris
How to write 莞, stroke by stroke
10 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 莞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Skimmia japonica
- smile
- used in 東莞|东莞[Dong1 guan3] (the name of a place in Guangdong)
How 莞 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 完 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 莞
The grass radical 艹 on top tells you this is a plant, and 完 (wán) underneath gives the sound. Picture a field of rushes that is finally complete, 完, and it makes you smile, 莞尔 (wǎn'ěr).
Today you mostly meet 莞 in two places: the city name 东莞 (Dōngguǎn) in Guangdong, and the literary word 莞尔 (wǎn'ěr), a slight smile. Example: 她莞尔一笑。(Tā wǎn'ěr yī xiào.) She gave a faint smile.
Common mistake: Learners often read 莞 as wán because of its phonetic part 完, or use guǎn everywhere. Say guǎn in 东莞 but wǎn in 莞尔.
莞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 莞
How many strokes are in 莞?
莞 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 莞 mean?
莞 (guǎn) means to smile; club-rush, Scirpus lacustris.
How do you pronounce 莞?
莞 is pronounced guǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 莞?
The radical of 莞 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 莞 under this radical.
How do you pronounce 东莞?
It is Dōngguǎn, with a third tone on 莞. Many people misread it as Dōngwǎn or Dōngwán, but the standard reading for the city is guǎn.
Is 莞尔 used in everyday speech?
Not much. 莞尔 is a written, somewhat literary word for a gentle smile, often seen in the phrase 莞尔一笑. In casual speech people simply say 微笑 (wēixiào) or 笑了笑 (xiào le xiào).