蠻 meaning and stroke order
Barbarians; barbarous, rude, savage
How to write 蠻, stroke by stroke
25 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
Meaning of 蠻
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- barbarian
- bullying
- very
- quite
- rough
- reckless
How 蠻 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Insect.
虫 gives the meaning and 䜌 hints at the sound.
Radical: 虫 (insect), shared by 197 characters on this site.
How to remember 蠻
蠻 is built from 䜌 on top, which gives the sound, and 虫 (chóng, insect) at the bottom, which gives the meaning. Picture a wild, untamed creature crawling under a tangle of threads: something rough and uncivilized.
蠻 is the traditional form, and the common words are written 野蠻 (yěmán) and 蠻力 (mánlì) in traditional script, 野蛮 and 蛮力 in simplified. In everyday speech it is also an adverb meaning 'quite' or 'pretty', similar to 挺 (tǐng). Example: 這家店蠻好吃的。(Zhè jiā diàn mán hǎochī de.) This place is pretty tasty.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 蠻 with 彎 (wān, bend) and 變 (biàn, change), which share the same top 䜌. Check the bottom part: only 蠻 has 虫.
Common words with 蠻
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 野蠻 | yěmán | barbarous; uncivilized | HSK 7-9 |
| 蠻力 | mánlì | brute force |
Questions about 蠻
How many strokes are in 蠻?
蠻 is written with 25 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蠻 mean?
蠻 (mán) means barbarians; barbarous, rude, savage. A common word with it is 野蛮 (yěmán), meaning "barbarous; uncivilized".
How do you pronounce 蠻?
蠻 is pronounced mán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 蠻?
The radical of 蠻 is 虫, which carries the idea of "insect". Dictionaries list 蠻 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 蠻?
蠻 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 蛮, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 蠻 rude when used to mean 'quite'?
No. As an adverb, 蠻 just means 'fairly' or 'pretty', as in 蠻不錯 (mán búcuò, not bad at all). It is casual and friendly, and especially common in southern and Taiwanese speech.
What does 蠻橫 mean?
蠻橫 (mánhèng) means unreasonable, overbearing, or bullying. It connects to the 'bullying' and 'reckless' senses of 蠻, for example 態度蠻橫 (tàidù mánhèng), an arrogant, bullying attitude.