蛮 meaning and stroke order
Barbarian; bullying; very
How to write 蛮, 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.
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Meaning of 蛮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- barbarian
- bullying
- very
- quite
- rough
- reckless
How 蛮 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Like 亦 insects 虫.
Radical: 虫 (insect), shared by 197 characters on this site.
How to remember 蛮
The top is 亦 (yì, also) and the bottom is 虫 (chóng, insect). Picture people who act just like wild insects, and you get 蛮, rough and uncivilized.
In older and formal Chinese, 蛮 means barbarian or savage, as in 野蛮 (yěmán, uncivilized) and 蛮力 (mánlì, brute force). In everyday southern Mandarin it also works as an adverb meaning quite or pretty, similar to 挺 (tǐng). Example: 这个菜蛮好吃的。(Zhège cài mán hǎochī de.) This dish is pretty tasty.
Common mistake: Learners often write the top as 亦 with the wrong number of dots, or confuse 蛮 with 峦 (luán, mountain range) and 恋 (liàn, love), which share the same top. Check the bottom part: only 蛮 has 虫.
Common words with 蛮
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 野蛮 | yěmán | barbarous; uncivilized | HSK 7-9 |
| 蛮力 | mánlì | brute force |
蛮 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 蛮
How many strokes are in 蛮?
蛮 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 蛮 mean?
蛮 (mán) means barbarian; bullying; very. A common word with it is 野蛮 (yěmán), meaning "barbarous; uncivilized".
How do you pronounce 蛮?
蛮 is pronounced mán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 蛮?
The radical of 蛮 is 虫, which carries the idea of "insect". Dictionaries list 蛮 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 蛮?
The traditional form of 蛮 is 蠻. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 蛮 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 蛮 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 蛮 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is it rude to use 蛮 to mean very?
No. When 蛮 comes before an adjective, as in 蛮好 (mán hǎo, quite good), it is a casual and friendly adverb. It only sounds negative in words like 野蛮 or 蛮横 (mánhèng, arrogant and unreasonable).
What is the difference between 蛮 and 很 for very?
很 (hěn) is neutral and used everywhere. 蛮 is more colloquial, common in southern speech, and often carries a mild sense of quite or rather. It usually pairs with 的 at the end, as in 蛮不错的 (mán búcuò de, pretty good).