蹭 meaning and stroke order
To rub against; to walk slowly; (coll.) to freeload
How to write 蹭, stroke by stroke
19 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 蹭
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to rub against
- to walk slowly
- (coll.) to freeload
How 蹭 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Foot.
足 gives the meaning and 曾 hints at the sound.
Radical: 足 (foot), shared by 119 characters on this site.
How to remember 蹭
蹭 combines the foot 足 on the left with 曾 (céng) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture a foot dragging and rubbing along the ground, and you get both rubbing and walking slowly.
蹭 means to rub against something, to move slowly, and in casual speech to freeload, as in 蹭饭 (cèng fàn) or 蹭车 (cèng chē). It also appears in 磨蹭 (móceng), which means to dawdle. Example: 他又来我家蹭饭了。 (Tā yòu lái wǒ jiā cèng fàn le.) He came to my place to mooch a meal again.
Common mistake: Learners often read 蹭 as céng because of the phonetic part 曾, but the correct tone is fourth tone, cèng. Also do not confuse it with 增 (zēng, to increase) or 赠 (zèng, to give), which share 曾 but have different left parts.
Common words with 蹭
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
蹭 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 蹭
How many strokes are in 蹭?
蹭 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蹭 mean?
蹭 (cèng) means to rub against; to walk slowly; (coll.) to freeload. A common word with it is 磨蹭 (móceng), meaning "to rub lightly; to move slowly; to dawdle; to dillydally".
How do you pronounce 蹭?
蹭 is pronounced cèng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 蹭?
The radical of 蹭 is 足, which carries the idea of "foot". Dictionaries list 蹭 under this radical.
Is 蹭 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 蹭 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 蹭热度 mean?
蹭热度 (cèng rèdù) is internet slang for riding on a hot topic or someone else's popularity to get attention. It carries the same freeloading sense of 蹭.
Is 蹭 rude to say about someone?
It is casual and can sound teasing. Saying a friend 蹭饭 is usually playful, but using it about a stranger can sound critical, like calling them a moocher.