蜜 meaning and stroke order
Honey
How to write 蜜, stroke by stroke
14 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 蜜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- honey
How 蜜 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Insect.
虫 gives the meaning and 宓 hints at the sound.
Radical: 虫 (insect), shared by 197 characters on this site.
How to remember 蜜
蜜 is built from 宓 (mì) on top, which gives the sound, and 虫 (chóng, insect) below, which gives the meaning. Picture an insect, the bee, quietly making something under its roof: honey.
蜜 rarely stands alone in speech. It mostly appears in words like 蜂蜜 (fēngmì, honey), 蜜蜂 (mìfēng, bee) and 甜蜜 (tiánmì, sweet, happy). Example: 我每天早上喝一杯蜂蜜水。(Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang hē yì bēi fēngmì shuǐ.) I drink a glass of honey water every morning.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 蜜 with 密 (mì, dense, secret), which has the same sound and top but 山 at the bottom instead of 虫. Remember that only the honey one has the insect. Also keep 蜂蜜 (honey) and 蜜蜂 (bee) straight, since they use the same two characters in opposite order.
Common words with 蜜
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 甜蜜 | tiánmì | sweet; happy | HSK 7-9 |
| 蜂蜜 | fēngmì | honey | HSK 7-9 |
| 蜜蜂 | mìfēng | bee; honeybee | HSK 7-9 |
| 蜜月 | mìyuè | honeymoon | HSK 7-9 |
| 蜜糖 | mìtáng | honey | |
| 闺蜜 | guīmì | (coll.) (a woman's) close female friend; bestie; (originally written 閨密|闺密[gui1 mi4], an a | |
| 甜言蜜语 | tiányánmìyǔ | (idiom) sweet words; sweet talk | |
| 蜜桃 | mìtáo | honey peach; juicy peach | |
| 花蜜 | huāmì | nectar | |
| 小蜜蜂 | xiǎomìfēng | honeybee; (fig.) industrious person (esp. one who shuttles back and forth); voice booster |
蜜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 蜜
How many strokes are in 蜜?
蜜 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蜜 mean?
蜜 (mì) means honey. A common word with it is 甜蜜 (tiánmì), meaning "sweet; happy".
How do you pronounce 蜜?
蜜 is pronounced mì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 蜜?
The radical of 蜜 is 虫, which carries the idea of "insect". Dictionaries list 蜜 under this radical.
Is 蜜 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 蜜 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why is 闺蜜 written with 蜜 if it means a close friend?
The word was originally written 闺密, using 密 (close, intimate). Over time people started writing it with 蜜 because it suggests sweetness, and 闺蜜 is now the common form.
Can 蜜 describe something other than honey?
Yes. It adds a sense of sweetness to words like 蜜桃 (mìtáo, juicy peach) and 蜜月 (mìyuè, honeymoon). In 甜言蜜语 (tiányánmìyǔ) it means sweet talk, often with a hint that the words are not sincere.